Pacers Bench Erupts as Mathurin’s 27 Points Leads Indiana to Game 3 Victory
The Indiana Pacers flipped the script Wednesday night, riding an explosive performance from their bench to take a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals with a 116-107 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Bennedict Mathurin came off the bench and stole the show.
The 22-year-old guard poured in a team-high 27 points in a performance that made NBA history. Mathurin’s outburst marked the most points by a reserve in the Finals since Jason Terry did it back in 2011.
“Just staying ready,” Mathurin explained after his breakout game. “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.”
It was quite the turnaround for Mathurin, who had played just 38 total minutes in Games 1 and 2 combined.
The Pacers’ bench completely overwhelmed Oklahoma City’s reserves, outscoring them by a staggering 49-18 margin.
“This is the kind of team that we are,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “We need everybody to be ready. It’s not always going to be exactly the same guys that are stepping up with scoring and stuff like that, but this is how we got to do it. We got to do it as a team.”
Tyrese Haliburton nearly notched a triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists and 9 rebounds, while Pascal Siakam added 21 points. But it was clearly Mathurin who changed the game’s complexion.
The young guard joined some elite company, becoming just the sixth player 22 or younger to score more than 25 points in the Finals. The others? Kawhi Leonard, LeBron James, Tony Parker, Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson.
“He did a great job of coming off handoffs, reading the pocket, rising up from the mid-range,” Haliburton said of his teammate. “This is a defense that will give that up.”
TJ McConnell also had a night to remember in front of the home crowd. He became the first player in Finals history to record at least 10 points, 5 assists and 5 steals in a game.
“That’s the great thing about the Finals, great thing about basketball,” Haliburton added. “When you have a team with this much depth, it can be anybody’s night.”
The Pacers now hold home-court advantage with a crucial Game 4 coming up in Indianapolis.
