Indiana Pacers: Bennedict Mathurin is dominant throughout 2022 preseason
The Indiana Pacers conclude their preseason stretch with a record of 2-2, beating the knicks and Hornets while also losing to the Knicks and Rockets.
The Indiana Pacers conclude their preseason stretch with a record of 2-2, beating the knicks and Hornets while also losing to the Knicks and Rockets.
What made the games so entertaining? Aren’t the Pacers trying to lose games this season? Not if Bennedict Mathurin has anything to say about it.
Mathurin put on a spectacular performance in Wednesday’s win against New York, which he prepared for. Since the Pacers got to face their New York rival twice in the preseason, Indiana was able to make adjustments. More specifically, Mathurin studied the film on how the Knicks guarded him in game one and was able to adjust to their second matchup on Wednesday. He made this statement after the game concluded about his adjustments:
“I saw the last game. I saw how they were guarding me and the lanes I could try to attack, and I feel like it helped me watching the game before”.
Mathruin played 29 minutes which was his highest of the preseason thus far. He posted 27 pts (8/13), four rebounds, and one assist, and led the team in scoring by a large margin. Mathurin’s ability to get to the rim and finish has been most impressive — the opposite of Tyreke Evans's stint with Indiana. The best part of that is he is getting to the free throw line (11/12 at the line in Wednesday’s win) and making them.
The next closest player to him in scoring was his fellow rookie Andrew Nembhard who had 15 points and scored 13 of those in the fourth quarter. Nembhard played his best game as a Pacer and to me looked like a decisive playmaker who took quality shots with little hesitation. He was 6/12 from the field with nine assists, four rebounds, and two steals.
While Nembhard did have five turnovers, the majority of those came when he tried to drive and ran into traffic near the rim. He made two bad passes but made up for it with nearly double-digit assists. These are the growing pains a rookie point guard will go through. The important part for Nembhard is building habits off the court to improve his reads and get on the same page as his teammates with decision-making.
I know the young Pacers spent a lot of time in the offseason learning different reads and that will only improve throughout a season. Nembhard got the extra minutes with Haliburton out, and he showed up in a big way for his team in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.
Overall preseason thoughts
The teams final preseason match saw no Tyrese Haliburton who was dealing with a sore lower back issue. An injury that fans hope wont linger as the teams regular season debut is just days away. Still there was a lot to enjoy from preseason, most impressive being the emergence of Bennedict Mathurin who is making it difficult for Rick Carlisle to bench.
There were a lot of fun notes to take from the past four games. Chris Duarte looks consistent, Isaiah Jackson is jumping everywhere, and T.J. McConnell’s energy is unmatched.
My thoughts surrounding Mathurin: if the Pacers plan to rebuild through the draft, getting Mathurin at No. 6 this year was a great decision thus far. Carlisle has cited several times where Bennedict has approached him asking to be coached hard, and coming in after practice — putting in the proper preparations to allow for the confidence to shine through on game day.
You saw it.
He was attacking the rim, getting to the free throw line, and windmilling on opponents — flexing on them too. For a rookie to be that confident in his ability before one regular season game played, you know the work behind the scenes is getting done. There is a lot to like.
In four games, he averaged 19.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists and he did so in just 23.5 minutes a game. Wowza.
Mathurin’s growth and performance is something to be excited about. Watch Pacers ball with no expectation and enjoy the process. There will be lobs, dunks, and growing pains but at least the franchise has a direction.
You didn’t notice much of Chris Duarte in these four games, but that is a good thing. Some bad defensive possessions, but he averaged 11.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and shot 51% from the field. That was being done in just over 20 minutes a game as well.
Isaiah Jackson caught many lobs over the past four games and averaged 8 points a game and 2.5 blocks while doing so. He truly is high flying, but does still have room for improvement. If he develops a mid range game and can be somewhat consistent I think that will add a ton to his offensive optionality.
He is showing flashes of shot blocking in nearly very game, which I think he will do at a high level. Year two of Isaiah Jackson is about building habits and forming an identity. He has a lot of talent, but finding his place in the system and establishing that role will benefit him drastically in my opinion.
We got to see Tyrese Haliburton play with Myles Turner, but barely. There were some easy assists attained by the two of them but Tyrese would miss the two final games of preseason. Even when we did see the two share the court, their minutes were not extended. Turner mostly played just one half. There were still tendencies from Myles to roll of the screen and his three ball was not there.
I thought Myles was great in the paint and made tough shots with touch. This is just the preseason but the connection between those two players on the floor is important and something I am high on going into this season.
Roster Moves
The Indiana Pacers also made some roster moves after their preseason finale. They waived Langston Galloway and Deividas Sirvydis while signing Eli Brooks. Tevin Brown, and Jermaine Samules — who will all likely join the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
Galloway and Sirvydis joined the team’s training camp roster but didn’t make the cut. Instead, it will be James Johnson filling the last roster spot.
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Thank you and be well,
Zach