Mathurin, Haliburton Provide Pacer Path to 2-1 Finals Lead

Photo credit: Dylan Buell, Getty Images, 2025

Indiana Pacer bench star Bennedict Mathurin led his team with 27 points and all-star guard Tyrese Haliburton turned in a performance fit for prime time in Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals on Wednesday night in Indianapolis in the Pacers’ 116-107 win that allowed them to take a 2-1 lead in the series over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

While Mathurin led all scorers with 27, Haliburton scored 22 points with 11 assists and 9 rebounds.

Behind their feverish home crowd and playing relentless defense, the Pacers were able to keep Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in check and force turnovers and capitalize. The Pacers turned the Thunder over 19 times and scored 21 points off of their 19 giveaways. 

Early on in the game, the Thunder came out strong, particularly Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. Offsetting six early points from Pascal Siakam was Holmgren, who was aggressive early in looking for his shot. Holmgren was 4-for-5 shooting in the first frame as the Thunder as a unit made three of their five long range attempts and took a 32-24 lead into the second quarter. Lu Dort, who finished the game with 12 points, scored nine in the opening quarter on three triples. Haliburton tallied 5 points and 3 assists in the first. 

In the second, Mathurin and fellow bench star T.J. McConnell got going, McConnell doing work on the defensive end and Mathurin scoring from inside and out. Seven early points in the quarter from Mathurin - a lay up, a jump shot, and a triple - got the deficit to one, 36-35. The make forced a Thunder timeout with 9:19 to go in the half. Isaiah Joe, who played just four minutes, hit both of his 3-point attempts to tie the game at 42, but more points from Mathurin put the Pacers up 46-42.

With 5:12 on the clock, a Haliburton floater made the score 49-42. The Thunder got back in it, and Gilgeous-Alexander scored on a driving finger roll to force a Pacer timeout with the game tied at 51 with 3:26 on the clock. Haliburton scored five more points in the remaining second quarter time (12 points for him at the half on 5-for-8), and Gilgeous-Alexander scored six second quarter points to go along with his six in the first frame. To end the half, McConnell hit a jumper. 64-60 Pacers at halftime.

In the first 24 minutes, the Pacers shot 55.8%, and the Thunder 47.6%. Holmgren posted 15 points and 5 rebounds, Jalen Williams 11 points, and Gilgeous-Alexander 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting. Siakam had 13 points and 4 rebounds on 5-for-8 shooting, Haliburton 12 points and 7 assists, and Mathurin 14 points on 5-for-6 as the Pacers outscored the Thunder 40-28 in the second quarter.   

The Thunder urgently got started in the third quarter, with a jump shot and lay up from Jalen Williams and a Gilgeous-Alexander jump shot that led to a Pacer timeout just 1:26 into the quarter. 

A driving floater from Williams made the score 68-64 Thunder, but a pair of free-throws from Myles Turner and a long corner two from Aaron Nesmith tied the game at 68. 

Haliburton then got going, with a driving finish, a steal that led to a dunk, and a triple that gave him 19 points and gave the Pacers a 79-76 lead. Out of the timeout, Alex Caruso tied the game at 79 with a triple, and Mathurin and Gilgeous-Alexander went back and forth exchanging jumpers and free-throws. 

After a Siakam drive resulted in a goaltend and Mathurin hit one of two from the line after being fouled to give the Pacers an 84-83 lead, Holmgren finished a dunk on a pass from Williams, converting the and-one free-throw to give the Thunder an 86-84 lead. With 0.8 seconds on the clock, Williams hit a triple. 89-84 Thunder after three. 

Mathurin, who was working on his childhood friend from Montreal in Dort, and McConnell came up with big plays once again in the final quarter, with Mathurin spinning and converting an and-one with 11:23 on the clock to make the deficit two at 89-87. 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting for the Canadian. A McConnell finish and a left-handed finish off the glass from Mathurin again got the deficit to two, 93-91. After a Holmgren score with 9:43 on the clock (95-91), McConnell and Mathurin provided two huge plays. 

After McConnell finished an inside drive with a score, he alertly leapt and stole the inbound pass, converting a layup to tie the game at 95. A triple from Mathurin with 8:01 on the clock gave him 25 points (9-for-11 shooting) and the Pacers a 98-96 lead. 

A step-back from Haliburton from the top of the arc put the Pacers ahead 101-98 after a Jalen Williams lay in, Haliburton now with 22 points on 9-for-14 and 4-for-7 from deep. 

With 6:21 remaining, Gilgeous-Alexander traveled. Andrew Nembhard with 4:51 remaining hit in an elbow jump shot giving the Pacers a 105-100 lead. After Dort missed a triple, Haliburton missed, but Toppin was there for a thunderous two-handed put back slam. Timeout Thunder. 4:25 remaining. 23-11 Pacers to begin the fourth. 

Just over one minute later, Gilgeous-Alexander hit a mid-range jump shot to make the score 107-102. Nesmith responded with a triple. After another Thunder turnover, Caruso came up with a steal and was fouled by Nesmith going to the basket, Nesmith reaching and grabbing both arms as Caruso was ahead going for the finish. Caruso’s momentum carried him to the floor, but an official review deemed Nesmith’s contact to be a common foul. 110-104 Pacers with 2:35 remaining. 

Then the Pacers went up eight, 112-104, on a Siakam lay-in with 1:09 remaining. Timeout Thunder as Gainbridge Fieldhouse was rocking. 

In the final minute, Mathurin kept the Thunder at distance with free-throws at the 27 and six tenths seconds mark. 27 points for Mathurin on 9-for-12 and 7-for-8 from the line. With his performance, he became the fifths player this century at age 22 or younger to score 25+ points in a Finals game. In that company he joined Kawhi Leonard, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Tony Parker. Mathurin’s 27 was also the most points off the bench in a Finals game since Jason Terry in 2011. There isn’t anything that Mathurin can’t do offensively, a player with good size who can shoot, score inside, and get to the line at high frequency. 

A Siakam drive and scoop layup with 7.3 seconds remaining put the finishing touches on the 116-107 win. 19 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals on 7-for-13 shooting and 5-for-6 from the line for Siakam in the game. Haliburton also had two steals and shot 9-for-17 and 4-for-8 from deep. He was more aggressive than he had been in Game 2 and set a tone. McConnell off the bench put up 10 points, 5 assists, and 5 steals on 3-for-8 while making all four of his freebie attempts. Toppin was 4-for-9 for 8 points with 7 rebounds. Hustle plays from both.

Williams’ 26 points (6 rebounds, 9-for-17 shooting, 7-for-11 from the line) led the Thunder, while Gilgeous-Alexander posted 24 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists but shot 9-for-20. Dort, after nine in the first quarter, scored three the rest of the game. 

The Pacers as a whole shot 50.6% and made 9-of-27 triples and 19-of-22 from the line. They totaled 37 rebounds. 13 turnovers for the Pacers, a +4 in that department to the Thunder’s 17. 

The Thunder shot 47.4% and made 10-of-21 triples, but missed seven of 29 attempts from the line. They did outrebound the Pacers 42-37 behind a game-high 10 from Holmgren. Haliburton’s nine boards led the Pacers. 

Behind their home crowd, energy and effort was paramount by the Pacers. Mathurin and McConnell, with 37 total points, heavily outplayed a Thunder bench that managed just 18 total points. Their production was the difference in the game as was Haliburton’s assertiveness. If you are the Pacers, you would love more than two rebounds from Turner. Unacceptable from a center. Hartenstein off the Thunder with three rebounds and no blocks was not impactful though, a bonus on the Pacer side. 

The story of Game 3 was Mathurin, whose bench play sparked the Pacers, outplaying all Thunder players. A top bench guy for the Pacers was one of the best players on the floor in Game 3 aside from his teammate Haliburton, and contributions from fellow bench player McConnell propelled the Pacers to a 2-1 series lead.

Game 3 goes Friday night, just a one day break in between.