With a 116-107 victory in Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals, the Pacers won a 2-1 series lead vs. Thunder. The Indiana bench surpassed the 49-18 Thunder on Wednesday evening.
Pacers’ Benedict Matlin came off the bench and scored a team-high 27 points. He was 2-3 over the arc and 7-8 from the charity stripe. After Game 1, Ringer Bill Simmons said Maturin “looks comfortable with mixed chaos.” He said he wouldn’t be surprised if Maturin scored 27 points in the 22 minutes of the series. On a big scale, it was his accurate stat line for Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals.
Bill Simmons could have been more accurate in predicting the Bendicto Matlin statistical line
Bill Simmons after Game 1: “I wonder if we’ll hear from (Matrin) in this series. I know that Matrin has a game where Matrin scored 27 points in 22 minutes.
guess what?
Mathurin scored 27 points in 22 minutes… pic.twitter.com/ywrwzlxs3l– Mrbuckbuck (@mrbuckbucknba) June 12, 2025
Benedict Maturin scored a playoff career-high 27 points in the 2025 final match 3. He was Indiana’s leading scorer on Wednesday despite only playing 22 minutes off the bench. Mathurin was 9-12 from the field. This included 2-3 from across the ARC and 7-8 from the free throw line. The credits are by Ringer Bill Simmons, who absolutely nailed Benedict Maturin’s stateline in Game 3.
After Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals, Simmons said Maturin seemed comfortable against OKC and controlled. He predicted that Mathurin could have a game where he scored 27 points with 22 points. That’s exactly what I did in Game 3 at the age of 22. Bill Simmons could not have been any more correct about his predictions. He was intrigued by the benefits of Matlin in this particular series, and Young Forward had a career-best playoff game.
Previous first-round picks scored over 20 points in four of Pacer’s 19 games this postseason. This includes his playoff career peaking in Game 3, 27 points. Matlin is a talented scorer from the Indiana bench. He was able to turn to head coach Rick Carlisle in the 2025 playoffs. He is just one of the key players in a key role that has a big impact on the Pacers’ bench. Game 4 of the NBA Finals is Friday at 8:30pm.