Mathurin shines in opening week
By TYLER SMITH (@TylerSmith_ISL)
ISL Editor
INDIANAPOLIS — It was an eventful opening week for the Indiana Pacers: Three home games in four nights, a freak pregame injury, spirited comebacks that fell short, and a thrilling victory on Saturday to cap it all off. At the end of it all, the Pacers finished the week with a 1-2 record, and a nice glimpse of the future.
The Pacers didn’t even have a lead until their 10th quarter of the young season. They gave up 35+ points in the first quarter in all three games. And it looked like they would start the season with three straight home losses. But rookie standout Bennedict Mathurin and company had other plans, putting together an excellent final three quarters to defeat the Detroit Pistons and giving the Pacer fan base a peak into what’s ahead.
Mathurin has lived up to the hype, and then some, in his first few NBA games. He became only the fifth NBA player since 1980 to score at least 72 points in his first three career games. He’s averaging 24.0 points and 6.3 rebounds in just 28.7 minutes per game, while shooting 52% from the field. He has shown the ability to score in a variety of ways, and looks advanced beyond his years when attacking and embracing contact around the rim.
“The possibilities are amazing with him,” said Head Coach Rick Carlisle. “He’s going to learn a lot. He has tools that really nobody else on our team has, and that’s exciting.”
Mathurin looks like the real deal in every aspect of the game. And when you pair that with Tyrese Haliburton and other promising players like Jalen Smith, “things are looking up” (my tribute to Judah & the Lion, who put on a great show in Indy on Thursday night.) Haliburton has averaged 25.7 points, 9.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 2 steals per game. The Haliburton/Mathurin combo will be here for years to come, and we could be seeing the start of something special.
Now the Pacers will hit the road for a tough stretch of games against Philly, Chicago, Washington, and Brooklyn twice. A 1-2 start wasn’t quite what the players hoped for, but if you ask a bulk of the fan base, things are already going as planned: Develop the young talent, and get the highest draft picks you possibly can next summer in a nice draft class.
If this team wins more than expected, it means players are developing and building some momentum. If this team loses a lot of games, it means the draft looks better by the day, and the Pacers can start dreaming about the next piece or pieces to the puzzle. Whatever happens, it’s going to be a lot of fun watching these kids play this season.
