Rick Carlisle, Pacers Not Surprised By Mathurin Being Difference Maker

Indiana Pacers forward Bennedict Mathurin has been focused on being a playoff difference maker for over a year. Both his head coach Rick Carlisle and the rest of the team certainly noticed.

Mathurin had the best performance of his career in Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In 22 minutes of the bench, Mathurin had 27 points on 9-of-12 shooting. He played the bulk of the fourth quarter because of his impact after sitting the entire first quarter.

Speaking after the game, head coach Rick Carlisle reflected on the dedication and focus Mathurin showed to recover from a torn labrum in his right shoulder in March 2024. The 2011 NBA champion shared a touching story of how the Montreal, Canada native counted down each day of his rehab in preparation for his biggest moment yet.

“He was with the team, he just wasn’t playing,” Carlisle said. “He took a lot of mental notes and he may have written some things down. I do know that after he sustained the injury — either in February or early March — you can order these calendars that start on a specific day and they count days. I think it was Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache who did the surgery and so there was a calendar that was sitting in our training room and every day he would come in and take one off. He was counting the days down to being cleared some time in August and then being able to begin 5-on-5 with our guys and then in September to begin training camp, really, with his eyes firmly set on an opportunity in the playoffs.

“He’s put in a lot of work to be ready for these moments and tonight he was an absolute major factor.”

Mathurin Reflects On His Learning While Out

Mathurin played 72 games in his third season, averaging 16.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.9 assists. In 18 playoff games during this run, he has put up 11.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 16.7 minutes per game. It makes his 27-point explosion all the more impressive.

“I think as much as I was out last year, not being able to play, I learned a lot,” Mathurin said. “Just being on the bench, being next to the coaches who were able to run me through the game, stuff like that. It was an unfortunate situation but I was fortunate enough to learn a lot and be ready for this year.”

Pascal Siakam was also instrumental in the Game 3 victory. He feels that an aggressive Mathurin makes all the difference to his output.

“He was great, just being aggressive,” Siakam said. “That’s who we want him to be. When he’s aggressive, he’s active on defense, he’s picking up full court, he’s cutting. When he’s doing that it looks easy for him out there so we just want him to keep that same mindset every single day. I know his minutes might be here and there but he just keeps going. That’s what we’re gonna need from him.”