The Indiana Pacers have a 2-1 series lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2025 NBA Finals on Wednesday. A major factor in the Pacers’ win in Game 3 was the play of the bench players, specifically Bennedict Mathurin. Off the bench, the 6-foot-6 swingman had 27 points and four rebounds on 75 percent shooting from the field in 22 minutes.
The Pacers also relied on their No. 1 star, Tyrese Haliburton. The 6-foot-5 point guard flirted with a triple-double with his 22 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists and two steals. Haliburton was aggressive for Indiana, which is what the’ve wanted to see from him since Game 1 of the best-of-seven series.
Also, Pascal Siakam added 21 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. T.J. McConnell, who came off the bench with Mathurin, had 10 points, five rebounds and five steals.
Following the contest, Mathurin was interviewed for his impressive showing. He was calm and collected, even though he was a contributing factor in their victory. The Canadian star is focused on helping his team win the title.
“As much as I want to live the moment, … I can’t,” he said. “As much as I would love to (celebrate), I think that’s going to take away from my aggressiveness on the court. But, you know, once the championship — when I have the trophy in my hands — then the job’s finished.”
In the first two games of the series, Mathurin never reached the 20-point mark. In Game 1, he didn’t have his offensive rhythm and finished with five points, three rebounds and two assists on 1-for-5 shooting. He followed it up with a 14-point performance, which was better.
Indiana Pacers’ head coach spoke highly of the team-oriented display in Game 3
As much as people give credit to the stars, Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle highlighted the teamwork his group displayed. He spoke highly about the play from the bench players, which propelled them to win the contest.
“Those guys were tremendous. T.J. just brought a will, competitive will to the game. Mathurin jumped in there and immediately was aggressive and got the ball in the basket,” Carlisle said.
“This is the kind of team that we are. 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.”
Haliburton agrees with what his head coach said about the Indiana Pacers. He applauded McConnell for his hustle play on the court, which resulted in a handful of steals.
Game 4 will be on Friday and the Pacers need a similar (or better) production from the entire roster.
For other sports-related content:
Follow me on X at @BarbecueBro, and follow us at @HardwoodHeroics and @GridironHeroics. You can also reach out to Reign Amurao via email at [email protected]. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest sports news, click here!
Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
