The NBA Finals can turn an unknown role player into a household name overnight. And in the Indiana Pacers’ massive 116-107 Game 3 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, that hero was Bennedict Mathurin. The Pacers’ third-year wing had a legendary game. He put up a game-high 27 points off the bench to lead his team to a 2-1 series lead in just 22 minutes! But this wasn’t just some random hot night. As his coach, Rick Carlisle, revealed after the game, Mathurin’s breakout performance was the culmination of a year of quiet, focused, and incredibly dedicated work, a journey he marked off one day at a time on a calendar in the team’s training room.

Man, what a story this is turning out to be. This is the guy who had to sit out the entire 2024 playoff run with a shoulder injury, watching his team battle without him. And now, on the biggest stage in the world, he’s not just contributing; he’s a game-changer. His performance was the most points by a reserve in the NBA Finals since Jason Terry did it way back in 2011. That’s some serious company.

But the most incredible part of this story came after the game, in Rick Carlisle’s press conference. A reporter asked him about Mathurin’s comeback, and Carlisle shared some amazing, previously unknown details about his mindset during his long recovery. “Yeah, I mean, he was with the team, he just wasn’t playing, and he took a lot of notes — a lot of mental notes — and he may have written some things down,” Carlisle revealed during the postgame presser. But then he dropped the real gem, a detail that just shows you the kind of focus and determination the 22-year-old has.

“But I do know that after he sustained the injury… you can order these calendars that start on a specific day, and then they count days,” Carlisle explained. “I think it was Dr. ElAttrache who did the surgery, and there was a calendar sitting in our training room, and every day he would come in and take one off. He was counting the days down to being cleared sometime in August, then beginning five-on-five with our guys in September, and then training camp.” Can you even imagine that?

In fact, Mathurin himself opened up back in 2024 about the tough road back from that injury: “I think I watch too many Kobe videos, keep playing through being hurt.” However, having to sit and watch his team go on that deep playoff run without him was brutal. “It was hard. It was harder than expected, obviously,” Mathurin said about the mental grind. “Watching the playoffs, watching the guys have fun and be out there competing at the highest level was hard for sure.” But he didn’t just let that disappointment eat at him; he channeled it. “I feel like it definitely builds fire in me going into next season,” he stated.

That fire is exactly what we’re seeing on the court in these NBA Finals.

From lottery picks to finals heroes: The “other” young guys are stealing the show

While all the headlines coming into this series were about the MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the pass-first maestro Tyrese Haliburton, the real story of this Finals might just be about the “other” guys—the high-level lottery picks who have stepped up and proven to be so much more than just supporting characters.

Think about it. The Pacers are now just two wins away from a title, and their leading scorer in a pivotal Game 3 was Bennedict Mathurin, the No. 6 pick from the 2022 NBA Draft. This is a guy who came into the league with a reputation as a pure scorer, a confident shot-maker who could get a bucket from anywhere.

And who was on the other side, trying to match his energy? The Thunder’s own rising star, Jalen Williams. “J-Dub,” as he’s known, was the No. 12 pick in that same 2022 draft, a guy who came out of Santa Clara without a ton of national hype but has quickly developed into a legitimate All-Star and OKC’s undisputed second-best player. He had a strong Game 3 himself, dropping 26 points and trying to carry the offensive load alongside SGA. This whole series is becoming a showcase for these two guys, Mathurin and Williams, two players from the same draft class who are now essential cogs for their championship-contending teams.

And that’s what makes this matchup so fascinating and offers a fresh perspective on modern team building. It’s not just about getting that one generational talent like an SGA or a Haliburton. That’s part of it, for sure. But the real key to building a sustainable winner, a team that can actually win a title, is what you do with your other high draft picks.

It’s a battle of the superstars, yes, but it’s also a battle of the “other guys.” And right now, Bennedict Mathurin just won a massive round for the Indiana Pacers.