Bennedict Mathurin’s first playoff run has had plenty of ups and downs. The third-year guard out of Arizona has not been a prominent member of the Indiana Pacers’ rotation through the first three rounds, with head coach Rick Carlisle typically giving him around 10 to 15 minutes a night. But against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the best defensive team in the NBA, the Pacers knew that they had to get Mathurin, a 16-point scorer a night in the regular season, going to have a shot at winning in the 2025 NBA Finals.
In Game 3, this is exactly what happened; Mathurin came alive and ended up being a game-changer, the biggest X-factor, that gave the Pacers just enough to score a 116-107 victory over the Thunder to take back control of the series. Mathurin, in 22 minutes off the bench, ended up leading all players in scoring, dropping 27 points on 9-12 shooting from the field (2-3 from deep) and 7-8 from the charity stripe.
This is the kind of impact Mathurin can have; he can generate points for the Pacers thanks to his ability to get to the foul line, which then makes it easier for him to score from the field. He was a huge X-factor coming into the series, and he delivered in the best possible way in Game 3 — earning the respect of Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault in the process.
“He seems to have a game like this every series. He’s a talented player,” Daigneault said, per Brandon Rahbar of Daily Thunder.
Mathurin has gotten a short leash from the Pacers, as he can sometimes run into trouble and not generate buckets as a result, which defeats the purpose of having him out on the court. But he posted three games with 20 points or more in the previous rounds, and now, he did it once again, this time in a winning effort against the powerhouse Thunder.
Bennedict Mathurin is the Pacers’ Game 3 hero
It’s difficult to pinpoint who the Pacers’ MVP is for Game 3, but Mathurin certainly has the strongest case to be named as such. He was excellent to start Game 3, breathing life into the Pacers by manufacturing points for his team when they were reeling in the first quarter.
Mathurin was also on the floor to start the fourth quarter, and he scored eight of their first 14 points in the quarter to help the Pacers keep pace — setting the stage for Tyrese Haliburton and company to finish off the job late in the game.
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