Bennedict Mathurin was the X-factor for the Pacers in their Game 3 win. He dropped 27 points in 22 minutes to lead all scorers in their 116-107 win over the Thunder in Indiana’s Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Coming off the bench for the Pacers, not many expected that Mathurin could do something like this. But NBA analyst Bill Simmons had a hunch that he was about to pull off something like this after the Pacers’ Game 1 win. Well, not something like this, but eerily, he made the exact prediction of his performance in Game 3, days before it actually happened.
“I thought Mathurin seemed athletically comfortable in this game and I’m intrigued by what his upside is for them, because OKC is so fast and so athletic, and they’re just at warp speed. And I just thought he looked comfortable in the chaos in a way that I’m wondering, are we gonna hear from him in this series? With one of those games, you know when Mathurin will have one of those games where like he scored 27 points in 22 minutes, I feel like he’s going to have one of those”, said Simmons after Game 1.
Mathurin provides a unique edge to the Pacers from their bench. He is extremely confident in his abilities, so much so that he even challenged LeBron James when he came into the NBA as a rookie. He and T.J. McConnell provided the spark from the Pacers’ bench that they needed to take them over the finish line in Game 3. In his 27 points, Mathurin went 9 of 12 from the field while making two of his three attempts from beyond the arc.
Mathurin Joins Elite List With LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, And Kawhi Leonard
Following this elite performance off the bench, Mathurin became one of only five players in this century to score 25+ points in an NBA Finals game below or at the age of 22. Other players who belong on this list are LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kawhi Leonard, and Tony Parker.
Players this century to score 25+ in a Finals game at 22 or younger:
Bennedict Mathurin
Kawhi Leonard
LeBron James
Tony Parker
Kobe Bryant pic.twitter.com/arYhHZiUrZ
— NBA (@NBA) June 12, 2025
From the onset of his NBA career, Mathurin had his eyes set on LeBron James. He challenged James right from his rookie season’s first media day.
“A lot of people say he’s great,” Mathurin said. “I want to see how great he is. I don’t think anybody is better than me. He’s going to have to show me he’s better than me.”
From challenging one of the greatest players of all time to matching his achievements in the nascent stages of his career, Mathurin has certainly come a long way. In his third season with the Pacers, Mathurin is now a consistent 15-point-per-game scorer playing over 25 minutes a night. He missed a few games in his second season due to surgery, but he bounced back even harder from it and is now a crucial part of this championship-contending Pacers team.
