INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 27: Bennedict Mathurin #00 of the Indiana Pacers celebrates with his teammates.
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Benedict Mathurin, T.J. McConnell, and Tyrese Haliburton each had historic performances in the Indiana Pacers' Game 3 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2025 NBA Finals.
In their first championship-series home game in 25 years, the Indiana Pacers ended victorious against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals. While star players Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam each hit their marks, it was the bench efforts of both Benedict Mathurin and T.J. McConnell that helped Indiana grab the 2-1 series lead.
Mathurin scored a game-high 27 points on an efficient 9/12 shooting from the field. McConnell finished the night with 10 points, five assists, and five steals in just 15 minutes on the court. The two, along with Pacers’ forward Obi Toppin, were the only players in the game that ended with at least a +10 plus/minus while on the court.
“Those guys were tremendous,” Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle said after the game. “T.J. just brought a competitive will to the game. Mathurin jumped in there and was immediately aggressive and got the ball in the basket. This is the kind of team we are. We need everybody.”
Mathurin’s Record-Breaking Game
Mathurin has been a bit up-and-down during the 2025 NBA Playoffs, but his performance in Game 3 was the highlight of his burgeoning career. His 27 points off the bench make him only the sixth player in modern NBA history at age 22 or younger to score at least 25 points in a Finals game. He joins an elite list of LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Tony Parker, Kobe Bryant, and Magic Johnson as the only players to accomplish the feat.
He also became the first player since Jason Terry in 2011 to lead his team in points while coming off the bench. Additionally, Mathurin set the record for the most points scored in a Finals game while playing in just 22 total minutes. He’s averaged only 11.2 points during this postseason run but has four games with at least 20 points.
“Just staying ready,” Mathurin said Wednesday night on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt. “Whenever my number is called, go into the game and do the right things and try to help my team win. That’s the whole mindset.”
Mathurin is playing in his first playoffs after he was injured last season and missed the Pacers’ 2024 Conference Finals run. The former 2022 sixth overall draft pick is now the team’s third-leading scorer in these NBA Finals.
McConnell’s Historic Game 3 for the Pacers
McConnell was everywhere on the court for Indiana on Wednesday night. With his Game 3 performance, he became the only player in NBA Finals history to finish a game with at least 10 points, five assists, and five steals in just 15 minutes off the bench.
McConnell has been a mainstay for this Pacers team since he arrived in 2019. Though he has never started more than 10 games in a season, the point guard was a major factor in holding the Thunder to their lowest-scoring total in the past five games.
Despite averaging just over 16 minutes per game in this series, McConnell is the only Pacers player to have at least one steal in each of these first three Finals games.
“This is the kind of team that we are,” Carlisle said. “We need everybody to be ready. It’s not always going to be exactly the same guys that are stepping up with scoring and stuff like that, but this is how we got to do it. We got to do it as a team.”
Haliburton also became the fourth player in history to finish with at least 20 points, 10 assists, and eight rebounds in a Finals game before turning 26 years old. He joins a list of Magic Johnson, Luka Doncic, and Russell Westbrook to hit those marks.
Indiana has now doubled their total wins in the NBA Finals. They won two games in 2000 but lost in a six-game series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Now, with a 2-1 series lead over the 68-win Thunder, they are just two games away from their first championship in franchise history.