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Bennedict Mathurin’s Hot Start Is No Fluke

The Pacers’ highest draft pick in decades is already shooting like a proven vet. And history shows that a rookie that scores from the jump can keep scoring throughout their career.

If you’re a casual NBA fan, Friday night might be the only time you’ll get to watch the Pacers play all season. Indiana will play in Washington, in the first game of an ESPN doubleheader, but it’s the Pacers’ only scheduled game this season on ESPN, ABC, or TNT.

Non-Hoosiers should watch if they have the opportunity. You shouldn’t go the entire season without seeing rookie Bennedict Mathurin ball.

While no. 1 pick Paolo Banchero lights up scoreboards for the Magic, with the fourth-most points for any player through five career games in the 3-point era, Mathurin isn’t too far behind. Despite coming off the bench, the no. 6 pick is averaging 20.8 points through five games of his own.

“I’m grateful to be in the NBA,” Mathurin said this week, “but also, I want to end up being one of the best players that ever played the game.”

He made that statement with a matter-of-fact tone, not braggadocio, in his very first sentence of an interview. It’s not the first time his supreme confidence has shone through. Right after he was drafted, he made a splash by saying LeBron James needed to “show me he’s better than me.” (Mathurin soon walked back that comment, offering proper deference to the King.)

Wizop wrote:Here is more from the Ringer

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/11/9/23448758/pacers-tyrese-haliburton-bennedict-mathurin

and in video form

Watch on YouTube