‘Just staying ready’: Pacers find needed Game 3 spark plug in Mathurin

Bennedict Mathurin of the Indiana Pacers passes the ball between Jalen Williams (top) and Luguentz Dort of the Oklahoma City Thunder during the fourth quarter in Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on June 11, 2025 in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Maddie Meyer / Getty Images / AFP

JERSEY CITY, New Jersey — Bennedict Mathurin helplessly and anxiously watched from the bench as the Oklahoma City Thunder pummeled the Indiana Pacers in the opening quarter of the first NBA Finals home game in Indiana in 25 years.

The heavy favorites Thunder took a 32-24 lead and appeared to have firm control of the pivotal Game 3 and the best-of-seven series.

Until Indiana coach Rick Carlisle pulled Mathurin off the bench.

The Canadian wing scored nine points that sparked a Pacers’ 15-4 run as Indiana grabbed a 39-36 lead inside the first five minutes of the second quarter. He did it again in the fourth quarter when he rallied the Pacers after trailing 89-84.

Mathurin scored eight points in a 14-7 turnaround for the Pacers, who never looked back from there.

The Canadian wing, who did not play in the entire first quarter, finished with a playoff career-high 27 points as the Pacers took a 2-1 series lead after their come-from-behind 116-107 win on Wednesday (Thursday Manila time).

“Just staying ready,” Mathurin said. “Just 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.”

Mathurin’s Game 3 explosion encapsulated his journey from a shoulder injury that kept him out of last year’s Pacers’ playoff run that fell short in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“Yeah, he was with the team. He just wasn't playing,” Carlisle said of Mathurin, who had a season-ending shoulder surgery last year. “He took a lot of notes, a lot of mental notes, and he may have written some things down.

Mathurin counted the days like a prisoner waiting for his release.

“So, there was a calendar sitting in our training room and every day he would come in and take one off, take one off,” Carlisle recounted. “He was counting the days down to being cleared sometime in August and then being able to begin training camp, begin five-on-five with our guys in September and then be in training camp, really, with his eyes firmly set on an opportunity in the playoffs.”

Mathurin remembered those dog days in the winter that dragged into the summer.

“It was crazy,” Mathurin said. “It was crazy. I don't want to say — a lot of people enjoy playing basketball, but I really love playing basketball. I think it's family and basketball for me.”

Like in the first quarter of this game, Mathurin patiently waited for his turn while recovering from his injury.

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

Mathurin’s patience and his stay-ready mindset finally paid off with a Game 3 performance that is now added to the lore of Indiana basketball and will be forever remembered, especially if the underdog Pacers pull off a massive NBA Finals upset.

“And so, he's putting a lot of work to be ready for these moments, and tonight he was an absolute major factor,” Carlisle said of Mathurin.

Despite the Pacers grabbing a 2-1 lead after a split in the first two games, which history says they have an 80.5% chance now of winning it all, they remain the heavy betting underdogs.

The Thunder are still a -200 favorites while the Pacers are +170 underdogs at online sportsbook Bovada.

It isn’t a lock that Mathurin will continue to have this kind of explosive scoring off the bench, as the Thunder, the best defensive team in recent memory, will mark him now on their defensive game plan.

But the Pacers have a very deep team, which Carlisle cultivated from the regular season to this Cinderella run in the playoffs.

“You know, look, this is the kind of team that we are,” 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, and we got to do it as a team. And we've got to make it as hard as possible on them.”

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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for US-based publication Heavy.com.