With Tyrese Haliburton set to miss the entire 2025-26 NBA season due to the Achilles injury he suffered in the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Indiana Pacers expect others to step up and help cover the considerable void left by the former Iowa State Cyclones star point guard. Among those primed for a bigger role in Indiana is none other than shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin.
On Monday, Mathurin added to his hype when he put on a show in the first half of a preseason game in Indiana against the visiting San Antonio Spurs.
Through two quarters in the contest, Bennedict Mathurin had tormented the Spurs for 27 points on incredibly efficient shooting. Mathurin went 9-for-9 from the field, including four made attempts from behind the arc.
The former Arizona Wildcats star also drained all five attempts from the free-throw line. He did all that in just 18 minutes of action in the first two periods. He capped his scintillating first-half performance with a long pull-up 3-pointer with a hand on his face. Mathurin was truly in the zone in the first half, and if that kind of performance was any indication of what's to come from him in his fourth season in the league, opposing defenses will have their hands full in trying to contain him.
PERFECT 1ST HALF FOR BENN MATHURIN:
27 PTS I 9-9 FGM I 4-4 3PM pic.twitter.com/psrQfvQOVK
— NBA (@NBA) October 14, 2025
Selected in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft by the Packers, Mathurin averaged at least 14.5 points in each of his first three seasons in the pros. In the 2024-25 campaign, he put up 16.1 points per contest, while posting a 45.8 field goal percentage, a 34.0 percent success rate from 3-point distance and a 51.6 effective field goal percentage. Against the Thunder in the NBA Finals, Mathurin produced 12.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while shooting 42.1 percent from the floor in seven games.
Mathurin finished the Spurs game with 31 points to lead all scorers from both sides, but those were not enough to prevent Indiana from absorbing a 124-108 loss to Victor Wembanyama and company.
Indiana can get back at the Spurs this coming Friday, when the Pacers play at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio for their final preseason game.
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