Selfishness is rarely a virtue, but when you need a bucket, sometimes you need someone who drives to the rim with that one purpose. That’s exactly what Bennedict Mathurin did on Thursday for the Indiana Pacers against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Pacers lost, yes, but when Mathurin scores 36 points and goes to the line 17 times, then there’s value in having a player who can dictate the terms of engagement as Mathurin did.
When I call Mathurin ‘selfish,’ I mean that as more of a reference to the fact that he is one of the least likely Pacers to pass the ball on drives. It goes against the grain of Indiana’s style that sees pass after pass, where anyone can be the one who eventually pulls the trigger. Even if the approach isn’t as egalitarian as usual for the Pacers, it certainly fits within the team’s paint-to-great philosophy.
His points came on 47.4% shooting from the field, 37.5% from deep, and 88.2% from the line. He did it while posting a 26.5% usage rate, second to Pascal Siakam on the Pacers and well behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 44% for the Thunder, who scored 55.
Indiana’s offense was suboptimal at best on Thursday, hampered by the expected absence of Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell, as well as the unexpected loss of Andrew Nembhard. If the Pacers want to consistently win games, they’ll need to find ways to get themselves out of ruts when the passing becomes stifled by opponents.
“I think being able to both attack the paint, create, I think just understanding each other’s angles a little bit better, how we can screen off of each other…I love his aggressiveness, the fact that he can get to the paint, is strong, and was making shots also. So I think that combination with me being able to get to the pocket…I think it could be a good combination.” Pascal Siakam said of his two man game with Mathurin according to Pacers.com. He also spoke on his teammate’s development as a player. “He’s growing…I think he’s doing a great job of just reading the game and just playing. Just being aggressive and knowing when to make the right play. I think that’s all it is. And I think he’s been doing that well, and he played well tonight for us, and I think he’s going to be a big part of what we do as a team.”
Mathurin forced the Thunder to either foul him or let him score three dozen points — 32 in regulation — and it was working for the Pacers. Small sample-size theater, of course, but Indiana posted a shameful -15.5 net rating in the first half with a 90.4 offensive rating. In the second half, when Mathurin went to the line 11 times, it helped power a 122.2 offensive rating in the second half.
Indiana will be at its best when the ball moves and everyone is a threat, but Indiana needs someone who can shatter ice-cold stretches when the team can’t get into its rhythm. Mathurin showed that could be a role for him even next season when Haliburton returns. How they can get all of it to work and not relegate him back to a sixth man is a question for another day, but it’s hard to not look at 36 points and 11 rebounds from this game and wonder if that could be a regular thing for the Pacers and done within the parameters of Rick Carlisle’s offense.
“He’s taking the toughest matchup on the planet at one end, and at the other end, he’s putting the ball in the basket. And so you can see the growth. You know, the reads are getting better and better.” coach Rick Carlisle said on Bennedict Mathurin’s growth after the game according to Pacers.com.
It’s silly to project anything from one data point, but nothing about Mathurin’s performance felt out of the ordinary for the way we’ve seen him play over the last three seasons.
It’s only one game, but it’s proof of concept that Mathurin isn’t just worthy of starting minutes, but that his nature of driving with the express purpose of attacking the rim doesn’t have to come at the expense of overall offensive success.
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