On the day SGA was named MVP, another Canadian stole the spotlight on Broadway.
After Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton completed a stunning fourth-quarter comeback with a game-tying buzzer-beater in Game 1 against the New York Knicks, it was Aurora, Ont.'s Andrew Nembhard's time to shine in overtime.
With the Pacers trailing 135-134 late in the extra frame, the 25-year-old Canadian put the visitors back on top with 26 seconds remaining thanks to a nice cut and finish at the hoop.
His layup would end up as the game-winning bucket thanks to a play he'd make on the ensuing defensive possession. Matched up with Knicks superstar Jalen Brunson, Nembhard got his hand on a pass that deflected out of bounds.
After the officials initially ruled the ball out of bounds off Nembhard, a video review revealed that the ball actually last touched Brunson's fingers and gave the ball back to the Pacers.
If those two plays weren't enough, Nembhard then had an assist on an Obi Toppin dunk that put Indiana up 138-135.
It all helped the Pacers complete a stunning comeback that saw them erase a 14-point deficit in the final 2:50 of the fourth quarter. Per Keerthika Uthayakumar, NBA teams were 0-970 when down by 14 or more points in the final 2:50 of regulation in the playoffs over the last 27 seasons until the Pacers pulled off the miracle.
The Pacers scored 23 points in the final 3:14. No team, at least in the play-by-play era that goes back to 1997, had scored that many in the final 3:14 of regulation of a playoff game.
And like his Team Canada teammate and NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nembhard and his team are now just three wins away from an NBA Finals appearance.
— With files from the Associated Press
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