The Indiana Pacers are entering a year where they will have to deal with life without Tyrese Haliburton. Benedict Mathurin will undoubtedly help them keep up their point totals, but on a night where he doesn’t have it, Rick Carlisle will likely keep him on a tight leash.
“What they’re doing with Mathurin is so fascinating because he’s, in my opinion, he’s very clearly meant to be your sparkplug scorer off the bench,” Andrew Claudio said on the Game Theory. “And Carlisle’s just said, ‘Do that for as long as you can.’ He had a ton of usage tonight, got to the line when he could, and they rode the Mathurin train for as long as they could until he fouled out. Finishes with, what is it, 36 points, 11 rebounds, and one assist. Like, very clearly was in to get his points, and Carlisle was like, ‘You know what, that’ll work, because we’re going to need somebody to score tonight.’ And I’m positive, the next game, if he starts out cold, he’ll go down to like 22 minutes or so. Okay, Nesmith, it’s your turn.
“And it’s just, it’s the everybody-eats type of offense that sometimes it doesn’t work, because you do need some alphas, at the end of the day. But in a season where you’re just kind of gathering information, it makes it, from a fan, more fun to watch, because there’s mystery in who’s going to be the guy tonight. So, I agree, very impressed with their ability to hang around and still look like maybe this won’t be as lost a season as it could potentially be.”
Pacers will police Bennedict Mathurin’s minutes
Mathurin was great for the Pacers in their season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder. His 36 points were essential to Indiana’s ability to stay in the game.
Perhaps he will be able to do that for them consistently. And if that’s the case, it could change the way the Pacers play offense even when Haliburton returns from his injury.
However, up to this point in his young career, Mathurin has been a score-first player. And nothing about the way the Pacers’ first game went down indicates that changing anytime soon.
But that’s alright. Carlisle and the Pacers just have to be careful about when to let him shine vs. when to pull back a bit and lean on other players to score within the flow of their offense.