Mathurin looking comfortable in closing role for Pacers

The Pacers overall play has been shaky of late, but they have been solid late at winning time, collecting Ws in five of their last six games.

The Pacers won their third consecutive game without Tyrese Haliburton (lower back) on Thursday, rallying late once, again to beat the Nets in OT, 105-99.

The wins without their lead conductor show growth, but considering the Pacers trailed in all three games with less than a minute to play in regulation, and looked lost quite often earlier in the wins over Dallas and Brooklyn, Haliburton has been missed.

However, that growth without him, digging down and finding a way to win under the most dire circumstances has ranged from fun to exhilarating to watch unfold. Even more importantly, the burst of late excellence from Bennedict Mathurin should have a lasting impact past this week of wins.

There was a lot going on in the Nets game, as the Pacers trailed by double digits well into the third quarter. Their furious rally to get into position to win needed more than Mathurin. Myles Turner and Andrew Nembhard in particular did their share of heavy lifting. Well, that is until a little skirmish added a T to both. Nembhard picked up a later T and was tossed by Tony Brothers who absolutely mailed this game in for some reason. TJ McConnell also deserves props for shaking of some brutal play earlier in the game, to fill in strongly for Nembhard late in the game.

But Mathurin’s relentless and dogged pursuit of a win late with no regard of the time nor score making it appear hopeless, has made him the key closer this week. Like, Mariano Rivera-level closer. It was fitting in the win over the Nets that Mathurin grabbed a rebound to close out Brooklyn’s last possession. It was the 16 rebound for Mathurin, a career high, further highlighting the extreme impact he had on winning the game. But Mathurin’s offensive effort has been critical all week.

Nembhard hit the big shot to beat the Mavs, but Mathurin had 16 fourth quarter points and the Pacers started going to the bulldog guard, with a high dribble handoff to get him going toward the paint to create a scoring opportunity or free throws. Eight of the 16 points against the Mavs late were from the free throw line.

Against the Nets, a similar approach was taken, with Mathurin scoring 11 points in the fourth quarter and six points in OT. He made 5 of 6 free throws in that time, including three freebies with 14 seconds left to tie the game that eventually went to OT.

While Mathurin is playing with an attitude to have his team continue to feed him, he has shown massive improvement getting into the lane and making plays to score or draw a foul, and even better as he did in the Dallas game, kick out the ball which eventually found Nembhard for the 3-ball. Finishing plays at a critical time, as opposed to getting stuck in the lane and hunting for a foul, will also make Mathurin a critical part of these late-game situations going forward, regardless of Haliburton’s status.

All you have to do is think back to the playoff losses the Pacers had last postseason, and most were due to problems with late-game execution. Adding an option like Mathurin who must be accounted for will make for some interesting lineup shuffling, but should certainly be an option the Pacers lean on going forward.

Nets, again

The Pacers and Nets do it again with a 5 p.m. ET tip at the Fieldhouse on Saturday. The NBA levied fines to Trendon Watford and Myles Turner ($35,000 each), as well as Andrew Nembhard ($20,000) for supposedly setting off Watford with some words of wisdom. Since it was during a timeout, there were no suspensions for players leaving the bench which is good, since there would be a 5-on-5 game in the rematch.

As mentioned above, Nembhard was tossed at crunch time for disagreeing on a call with Tony Brothers. Time and score antics by both Nembhard and Brothers were brutal, but it confirms the fact that Nembhard appears mild mannered and not saying much, but in fact he is always running hot. He has that Lance Stephenson trash talking skill to look one way, while slyly letting the target of his words know what he’s thinking resulting in a reaction like we saw from both Watford and Brothers.

And to close up with more good news, Tyrese Haliburton will be available for the Saturday rematch with the Nets. Let the lineup adjustment games begin!

Pacers vs. Nets

Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN

When: Saturday, Mar. 22, 2025, 5:00 p.m. ET

TV: FanDuel Sports Network

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

Odds: Pacers -9.5

Projected Starters

Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, Pascal Siakam, Myles Turner

Nets: Keon Johnson, Tyrese Martin, Jalen Wilson, Cameron Johnson, Nic Claxton

Injuries

Pacers: Isaiah Jackson (Achilles) - out

Nets: D’Angelo Russell (ankle) - out, Ziaire Williams (hamstring) - out, De'Anthony Melton (knee) - out, Cam Thomas (hamstring) - out, Dariq Whitehead (G League) - out