Bennedict Mathurin’s game-changing performance in Game 3 of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Finals felt like a long time coming, but the 22-year-old Canadian made sure he was ready when the opportunity arrived.
Mathurin came off the bench to score 27 points in Indiana’s 116-107 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, which gave the Pacers a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven championship series.
In 22:24 minutes on court through the second and fourth quarters, Mathurin was a brutally efficient 9-of-12 from the field, making two of his three three-point attempts and seven of eight free-throws, adding in four rebounds an assist and a blocked shot for good measure.
“Just staying ready,” Mathurin said.
“Whenever my number is called, go into the game and do the right things and try to help my team win — that’s the whole mindset.”
Mathurin is playing in the playoffs for the first time, after watching the Pacers’ run to the Eastern Conference finals from the bench in the wake of season-ending surgery in March of 2024.
Even then, the Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said, the 22-year-old Canadian was looking ahead.
“He was with the team. He just wasn’t playing,” Carlisle recalled.
“He took a lot of notes, a lot of mental notes, and he may have written some things down.”
“I do know that after he sustained the injury, it was either in February or early March, you can order these calendars that start on a specific day and then they count days.”
