Mavericks' Ryan Nembhard: Dishes out seven dimes in return

Nembhard (knee) recorded two points (1-7 FG, 0-2 3Pt), seven assists and three rebounds across 17 minutes off the bench in Monday's 106-102 loss to the Heat.

Though Nembhard hadn't been a regular part of the Dallas rotation before being shut down just over a week ago due to a sprained left knee, head coach Jason Kidd didn't hesitate to ride the rookie heavily down the stretch Monday in his return to action. Nembhard didn't check into the game until midway through the third quarter, but he served as Dallas' point guard for all but one of the game's final 17 minutes while Brandon Williams and D'Angelo Russell were relegated to the bench. While he didn't shoot the ball well, Nembhard excelled as a distributor, and he could prove to be an excellent source of assists if Kidd elects to expand his role moving forward at the expense of Williams and/or Russell. Nembhard notably led all of Division I with an average of 9.8 assists per game as a senior at Gonzaga during his final season of college in 2024-25.