NBA

Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin had to be helped off the court after rolling his ankle, he’ll likely miss his first game of the season on Saturday vs Detroit

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Bennedit Mathurin pic

After an impressive 134-125 win vs the Rockets in OT last night, the Pacers are 30-37 so far this season. That puts them at 12th in the East, but they are just two and a half games back from 10th in the Eastern Conference. Early in the first quarter on the game, rookie SG Bennedict Mathurin rolled his ankle and had to be helped off the court. He’s played in every game so far this season, but will likely miss his first game on Saturday vs Detroit. 

Mathurin played just three minutes in last night’s contest vs the Houston and he had to be helped off the court by his teammates and would not return to the game. He’s the fourth-highest scorer at (16.6) points per game for the Pacers and they will miss his production for the at least the next game, possibly even two.

Indiana Sports Betting sites have the Pacers at (+100000) to win the Finals this season.

Bennedict Mathurin expected to miss his first game of the season on Saturday vs Detroit

The 20 year old rookie has been stellar for the Pacers this season and brings a spark of offense off the bench for his team. He’s averaging (16.6) points per game this season and that is the second-highest amongst all rookie this season. Only Orlando’s Paolo Banchero (20.1) averages more than him.

His return was questionable at one point last night, but was ruled out before halftime. Mathurin was the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft and he’s been incredibly reliable for the Pacers this season. He leads NBA rookies this season with 67 games played, but that number is going to stay put for at least a game or two.

Tari Eason from the Rockets has played 66 and Shaedon Sharpe from the Trail Blazers has played in 65 games. A few weeks ago Mathurin was quoted saying “I’m blessed from beyond to be healthy,”, but sadly that luck may have run out this season.

After the game head coach Rick Carlisle shared what he thinks the plan will be for Mathurin moving forward.

“It’s going to look different out there without Benn in this game. And I certainly don’t believe he’ll play either of the Detroit games,” – Rick Carlisle

The Pacers have two straight games coming up vs the Pistons, one on Saturday and one on Monday. There’s a chance that Mathurin will miss both and that’s the last thing he wants to do after playing in all the regular season games so far.