Benedict Mathurin Leads Pacers To Game 3 Win


Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals will forever go down in history as the Benedict Mathurin Game. Mathurin scored 27 points off the bench, leading the Indiana Pacers to a 116-107 win over the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday (CLICK HERE for game log). 

Bench Warriors

Mathurin made 9-of-12 attempts from the field, including 2-of-3 attempts from 3-point range. With his Game 3 performance, Mathurin became the first bench player since Dallas’ Jason Terry to score 25+ points in an NBA Finals game. Both performances, ironically, came under now Pacers coach and former Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle. 

Mathurin wasn’t the only bench warrior with a timely performance for Indiana on Wednesday. TJ McConnell registered 10 points and five assists, but it was his five steals on the defensive end in 15 minutes of playing time that propelled the Pacers to an early lead in the series against all odds. 

Tyrese Haliburton registered his first 20+ point performance of the NBA Finals with 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Haliburton also dished out 11 assists, while his running mate Pascal Siakam tallied 21 points, six rebounds and four assists on 8-of-14 shooting.

Thunder Down?

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, on the other hand, appeared human for the first time in the series. Gilgeous-Alexander was held to a tame 24 points by his recent standards, making 9-of-20 attempts from the field. Jalen Williams actually led the Thunder in scoring with 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting, while also going 7-of-11 from the charity stripe. 

Chet Holmgren added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder in 35 minutes of action. Alex Caruso saw 32 minutes of playing time off the bench for Oklahoma City, but Indiana outscored OKC’s bench, 49-18, in the nine-point loss. On the other hand, OKC’s starting lineup outscored Indiana’s starting lineup by a total of 89-67.

Tides Turned

Indiana now holds a 2-1 series lead, an advantage that has seen nearly 80% of teams that held it go on to win the NBA Finals. Throughout all of the NBA’s postseason history, the team leading a series 2-1 has won 480/599 times (80.1 percent). However, the most recent team to erase a 2-1 postseason deficit was this exact Oklahoma City Thunder group, who did so against the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals last month. 

The Pacers won the turnover battle for the first time in the series, forcing 19 Oklahoma City turnovers while conceding just 14. Since the Thunder won the turnover battle, 25-7, in Game 1, the Pacers have managed to force 34 Thunder turnovers while conceding just 32 themselves. While the first two games of the series revealed some concerning offensive trends that could have served to ruin Indiana’s chances, the cards have turned quite quickly after it shockingly established a sudden defensive advantage against one of the outstanding units on that end in modern NBA history.

Up Next

The Thunder are now approaching must-win territory with Game 4 on the horizon. Another loss would see them traveling back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 down 3-1, a reality that most pundits around the league deemed highly improbable before the series began. Game 4 is set to tip at 8:30 p.m. EDT on Friday night and will be broadcast live on ABC from Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. 





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