'Shows no fear': How Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard is battling the Bucks Damian Lillard

MILWAUKEE -- It could be argued that no one in the NBA drew a tougher defensive assignment than Andrew Nembhard did in the first week of the playoffs.

The second-year guard is getting used to defending the world's best players; that's been his assignment since early in his rookie season. But this was a big ask, even by those standards. In Damian Lillard, he was guarding a seven-time All-NBA pick with playoff experience that includes two series-winning buzzer beaters. And Lillard was motivated by carrying the Milwaukee Bucks early in the series as they await the return of two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo from a calf strain.

And quickly in the first quarter of Game 1, it became clear just how motivated Lillard was as he scored 19 of the Bucks' 31 points. He scored 35, all in the first half, en route to a 109-94 Bucks win. Then in the first quarter of Game 2, he came out cooking again with 15 points on 4 of 6 shooting in the first period and had 26 by the break.

The Pacers frequently used two bodies on Lillard, but Nembhard drew the primary assignment. The Bucks were constantly running actions to get Lillard shots and Nembhard had to fight his way through ball screen after ball screen, trying to get around bigs such as Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis to stay close on Lillard. And Lillard doesn't need a whole lot of space to get his shot off, so even on occasions when Nembhard did everything right, Lillard knocked down step-back 3s in his face. Nembhard was trying to establish that he would be physical in the assignment and get a body on Lillard, but Lillard took advantage of that by drawing contact while shooting behind the 3-point line and turning that into three-shot fouls.

"The challenge of chasing Lillard around is a thankless one," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "It's almost impossible."

But what impressed Carlisle and Nembhard's older teammates is that he kept fighting. No matter how many times Nembhard fought through a ball screen and Lillard hit a 3 over him anyway, Nembhard still kept fighting through those screens. He kept getting a body on Lillard and kept making him work.

And in Tuesday's second half that work paid off. Lillard scored eight points on 3 of 9 shooting, missing both of his 3-point attempts. He had three assists, but was -21 in 16:49 on the floor as the Pacers pulled away to a 125-108 win to even the series.

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Lillard scored a combined 70 points in Game 1 and Game 2 on 21 of 45 shooting, but Nembhard's tenacity and resilience helped keep the Pacers afloat and send them into Game 3 having flipped home-court advantage.

"Drew never really got rattled," veteran center Myles Turner said. "Even if Dame hit some hellacious shots, which he did these first two games, and even when Dame kinda started barking at him, I don't think he really backed down. That shows a lot in this playoff atmosphere. Having an addition like that, someone who shows no fear on both ends of the floor is what you need. I'm proud of his development and he's going to be a big X-factor for us."

Nembhard, the second-year guard out of Gonzaga, never shows fear. His facial expression seemingly never changes, and Turner mentioned, he didn't back down in Games 1 and 2 when things turned heated. He and Lillard got tangled up during and inbounds play and ended up chest to chest and drew double technicals. Nembhard ended up with another technical foul for standing over Patrick Beverley in Game 2.

The technicals weren't great, but he also didn't lose his overall composure and kept looking for ways to just create a little less space between him and Lillard.

"It's about just being physical, understanding what coverage we're in and trying to execute it at the highest level possible," Nembhard said. "Staying attached to him. Making it tough. Trying to wear on him as the game goes on."

And Nembhard wore on the Bucks collectively by making himself a much tougher cover on the offensive end.

Nembhard finished the regular season with 9.2 points per game, not just the lowest number among the Pacers' starters, but among anyone who was in their constant rotation. Defense has become his primary purpose and on offense, he's mostly served as a ball-handler, allowing point guard Tyrese Haliburton the opportunity to create space to work by moving around off the ball. Though Nembhard is the Pacers' nominal shooting guard, he averaged a modest 7.7 field goal attempts per game.

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He was reasonably efficient when he did try to score, however, making 49.8% of his shots, And the Pacers saw opportunities for Nembhard to do more on that end Tuesday with so much attention being paid to Haliburton, his pick-and-roll partner Myles Turner and All-NBA power forward Pascal Siakam, who scored a combined 73 points in the series' first two games. They pushed him to be more aggressive on drives and cuts to take advantage of available lanes. He scored 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting, posting a figure that he eclipsed in the regular season just once.

"A little more movement, getting more involved," Nembhard said about what worked better for him on that end. "Understanding that they're gonna put a lot of eyes on Tyrese and Pascal. It's going to get me open. I have to be aggressive and knock down shots."

Said Haliburton: "Just a good job of attacking. That was a point of emphasis for us was for Drew to be more aggressive and get downhill and he was unbelievable at it."

Nembhard could be even more important as the series goes on. He'll obviously still be a critical part of guarding Lillard, which will be important once Antetokounmpo comes back and the Pacers have to shake up their defensive matchups. And the Pacers have to expect more attention on Siakam so Nembhard and others can be expected to be dared to try to shoot.

"I thought Andrew's aggression on offense in the second half was a major key to the game," Carlisle said. "He made big buckets. He got to the free throw line. He had big offensive rebounds."

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pacers Andrew Nembhard making an impact vs. Dame Lillard