The Clippers’ quick two-game trip to the Midwest will be something of a homecoming for Bennedict Mathurin and Brook Lopez, as both will be returning to cities where they last played before coming to L.A.
Lopez was a pillar of not only the Milwaukee Bucks offense for seven seasons, starting at center in 466 games, but the community as well.
In 2021, he led the Bucks to the NBA championship, where they overcame a 2-0 series deficit to beat the Atlanta Hawks. He helped Milwaukee to advance to the postseason the following two seasons, where they were eliminated early.
But Lopez still made an impact in 2023. He finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting and earned All-Defensive First Team honors. He was also named winner of the Bob Lanier Community Assist Award winner for his continued commitment to supporting youth literacy in Milwaukee. Lopez earned the distinction as determined by an NBA executive panel and a 12-day fan voting period.
“It will definitely be good to see some of my ex-teammates and ex-coaches,” said Lopez, who signed a two-year, $18 million free-agent deal with the Clippers in July. “I’m excited to go back there, compete against them again, hopefully get a win.”
Mathurin, along with reserve center Isaiah Jackson, came to the Clippers in a February trade that sent Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers. He expects a warm welcome when he returns to Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday.
“Obviously the fans are going to be there and the fans are lucky and I love the fans over there,” Mathurin said. “There’s going to be a lot of love, and at the end of the day, Indiana drafted me. It’s still my second home to this day.”
Mathurin played his first three-plus seasons with the Indiana Pacers, who used the No. 6 overall pick to draft the 6-5 wing out of Arizona. He averaged 16.1 points and 4.1 rebounds over 237 games.
Last season, he helped the Pacers reach the NBA Finals, where he scored a career playoff-high 27 points off the bench in a Game 3 victory over the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2-1 series lead.
“It’s going to be a great moment. I’m very excited and I’m looking forward to it,” Mathurin said. “I think that now being on the other side is going to be a little different, but there’s no hate. It’s just a lot of love, especially now being on the other side.
“I’m just excited to go and play against my guys. I played with them the past four years every day in practice, and now I get the chance to really play against them in a game that’s going to count.”
MVP TALK
With his strong play this season, Kawhi Leonard has moved into the MVP conversation, although he is a longshot to win the postseason honor.
He is averaging 28.3 points over 57 games, sixth best in the NBA, along with 6.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals. The seven-time All-Star also leads the league in free-throw accuracy at an impressive 98.2%.
“It’s great,” Leonard said of the MVP talk. “They’re individual honors and everybody’s putting the work in around the league to try to be All-NBA, All-Defensive team, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved and MVP, like you said. So, when you’re able to get one of those accolades, your hard work kind of paid off in a sense.”
Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic said Leonard is playing “amazing” basketball.
“To be honest, he looks like he’s having the best basketball of his life” Rajakovic said. “You know, he’s just so consistent, offensively, and he’s doing an amazing job.”
Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Lakers’ Luka Doncic and Denver’s Nikola Jokic are among the leading MVP candidates, with the Detroit’s Cade Cunningham and San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama also in contention.
Clippers at Indiana
When: 4 p.m. PT Friday
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
TV: FDSN SoCal/AM 570