INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — TJ McConnell stole inbounds passes not once, not twice, but three times in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. He waved his arms, pumped his fists and shouted at an already delirious crowd to make more noise.
Bennedict Mathurin made just about every shot, calm and cool, always coming up with the bucket that Indiana needed.
Separately, they couldn’t seem more different. Together, they were a two-man bench wrecking crew for the Pacers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals — two of the biggest reasons why Indiana has a 2-1 lead over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the title series.
McConnell became the first reserve in finals history to have five assists and five steals in a game. Mathurin — who couldn’t play in Indiana’s playoff run last year because of a shoulder injury — scored 27 points, the most by a reserve in a finals game in 14 years. Sure, Tyrese Haliburton nearly had a triple-double and Pascal Siakam scored 21 points and Myles Turner battled through illness to have a pair of huge blocks late in Indiana’s 116-107 victory Wednesday night, but McConnell and Mathurin were the story.
“Just getting a win in general in the playoffs and in the finals, it’s really hard,” McConnell said. “So, obviously, happy about this one, but have to move on. Have to still correct some stuff and make some adjustments.”
Game 4 is Friday night. And McConnell was looking ahead to Friday almost immediately after Wednesday night’s game ended.
Haliburton says McConnell is like a big brother to him, always knowing what needs to be done, always knowing what needs to be said. He delivered on both counts in Game 3.
“He does a great job of giving us energy plays consistently and getting downhill and operating. I mean, nobody operates on the baseline like that guy,” Haliburton said. “I thought did he a great job of consistently getting there and making hustle play after hustle play, and sticking with it, and I thought we did a great job of just feeding off of what he was doing.”
McConnell was the scrappy energy. Mathurin, he was just smooth.
Before Mathurin did it in Game 3, the last player who scored 27 points off the bench in a finals game was Jason Terry for Dallas in 2011 — doing so in the Game 6 title-clinching win over Miami.
The coach of that Mavs team: Rick Carlisle. The coach of this Pacers team: Rick Carlisle.
And when it was all over Wednesday, Carlisle told the story of how Mathurin — after getting his shoulder surgically repaired last spring — got one of those calendars that counted down the number of days he had to wait before being cleared to play again. It was in the Pacers’ training room and part of Mathurin’s routine was to tear off a page each day.
“He was counting the days down to being cleared sometime in August and then be able to begin training camp, begin 5-on-5 with our guys in September and then be in training camp, really, with his eyes firmly set on an opportunity in the playoffs,” Carlisle said. “And so, he’s putting a lot of work to be ready for these moments.”
Mathurin said he learned a lot as well from just watching last year’s playoff run, when Indiana made the East finals.
“Just being on the bench and being next to the coaches who were able to run me through the game and stuff like that … I was fortunate enough to learn a lot and be ready for this year,” Mathurin said.
Mathurin has had four 20-point games in these playoffs. The Thunder knew he had the capability.
“He seems to have a game like this in every series. He’s a talented player,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “He was really aggressive. He did a great job. McConnell did a great job. Their bench really came in the game and was excellent.”
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