After missing last year's playoffs, Bennedict Mathurin counted down the days. It was worth the wait

Indianapolis Star

a day ago

INDIANAPOLIS – A page-a-day calendar sat in the Pacers' training room last year.
A marker for Bennedict Mathurin.
Every day after undergoing surgery to repair the torn labrum that ended his season and kept Mathurin out of Indiana's surprising run to the 2024 Eastern Conference Finals, the Pacers guard would walk by the calendar and rip off a page.
'He was counting down the days to being cleared sometime in August, and then to begin 5-on-5 with our guys in September, and then to begin training camp, really, with his eyes firmly set on an opportunity in the playoffs,' Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said.
Mathurin finally reached the peak of his hike in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, pouring in 27 points off the bench to lead Indiana to a 116-107 win over Oklahoma City in front of a raucous Gainbridge Fieldhouse crowd Wednesday night.
The Pacers have spent the entire season telling anybody who would listen that a healthy Mathurin would make a big difference in the postseason.
'You're seeing why,' Indiana point guard Tyrese Haliburton said.
Mathurin's march to this point has been anything but smooth.
Carlisle prefers to play Mathurin off the bench, partly because his style of play isn't a perfect fit with the Pacers' style and partly because Mathurin gives the team's second unit a bona fide scorer, but the role has not been easy.
Injuries forced Mathurin into the starting lineup for most of the first two months, giving him a chance to establish himself in a starting role, only to head back to the second unit when Aaron Nesmith was fully ready to return to the lineup in February.
He can be an imperfect fit for this Pacers team, and as a result, his playing time in the playoffs has been spotty. Mathurin has been given 11 minutes or fewer four times in the playoffs, including three times in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Knicks.
Mathurin also has four games of 20 points or more, none bigger than Wednesday night's lethal performance, the third-highest scoring performance for any player coming off the bench in NBA Finals history.
A performance that initially seemed like it would be one of the nights Mathurin was used sparingly.
Mathurin sat out the entire first quarter, watching as Oklahoma City jumped out to a 32-24 lead that felt too much like Indiana's other slow starts in this Finals.
The Pacers needed a spark when Mathurin entered the game at the beginning of the second quarter.
'Mathurin jumped in there and was immediately aggressive,' Carlisle said. 'This is the kind of team that we are. We need everybody to be ready.'
Oklahoma City's defense can be suffocating, taking away an offense's best shots with its pressure, taking away the lane. Early in the series, Mathurin spent too much time driving into traffic, a problem that plagued the entire Pacers offense.
But Mathurin is also the kind of player who can make the Thunder pay for the types of shots they're willing to let teams take.
'He did a great job of coming off handoffs, reading the pocket, rising up for the mid-range,' Haliburton said. 'This is a defense that will give that up; analytically, that's not the best shot. I thought he did a great job of hunting that, getting downhill.'
Playing off another brilliant bench performance from T.J. McConnell, Mathurin helped bring the Pacers roaring back, taking a 39-36 lead on a Mathurin 3-pointer midway through the second quarter and setting the tone for a back-and-forth game that Indiana eventually won.
'It's a group of guys who play extremely hard, and I think that's exactly what we needed, to get the fans back on their feet,' Mathurin said.
Mathurin ended up playing 22 minutes after missing the entire first quarter, and he kept finding ways to get to his spots.
Mathurin knocked down 9-of-12 shots, 2-of-3 from 3-point range and knocked down 7-of-8 free throws, playing an efficient brand of basketball while handling the contact and physicality Oklahoma City presents defensively.
Indiana entered Game 3 knowing the offense needed to get into the paint.
Mathurin plays with the physicality that can get him into the paint and get him to the free-throw line.
'Pretty much just shooting shots that I like,' Mathurin said.
Mathurin's brilliance can be spotty.
But Wednesday night's game was a reminder of what he brings to the Pacers, what Indiana was missing during last year's magical playoff run. Mathurin spent last year's playoff run rehabbing his shoulder, focusing on being a presence for the Pacers the next time the team made a deep run.
Now, the best game of his young career has Indiana two wins away from an NBA title.
'As much as this is a dream right now, I'm not trying to live in my dream,' Mathurin said. 'I'm trying to live in the present and make sure the dream ends well, which means winning the next game and winning a championship.'
Then Mathurin and the Pacers can tear off the final page.