We have talked a lot about one Canadian in the NBA Playoffs and deservedly so. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Toronto, Ontario is having a season for the ages for the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the only way he can have truly a magnificent season is if the Thunder win the NBA Finals. At the moment that achievement is in serious question.
Now it is time to give another Canadian high praise. What we saw from shooting guard Bennedict Mathurin of Montreal in game three was simply masterful. While coming off the bench, Mathurin scored a game-high 27 points in only 22 minutes and is the reason why the Indiana Pacers beat the Thunder by a score of 116-107 to take a two games to one series lead in the NBA Finals.
The Pacers defense from the bench was awesome. Mathurin was a +16, while Obi Toppin was a +18 and T.J. McConnell was a +12. There was also rock solid quality defense from Myles Turner, who proved to the NBA why he is a complete defensive player. His individual prevention of Chet Holmgren from scoring late in the fourth quarter was exceptional.
It is now time to give the Pacers some credit for their overall production and believe. They are proving to the basketball world that they can definitely match up against the powerful bunch from OKC. Quite simply, they are showing they did not deserve to be a gigantic underdog to start the series as the betting odds the Thunder were to win the NBA Finals were -700 a week ago.
