Pacers Make Final Decision on Bennedict Mathurin for Game 4

Indiana Pacers sixth man guard Bennedict Mathurin had been questionable to suit up for Game 4 of the club's ongoing playoff series matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks due to an abdominal contusion, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star.

The action is set to tip off at 8:30 p.m. CT on Sunday.

Bennedict Mathurin questionable for Game 4 with abdominal contusion https://t.co/zjEBGbRt1v
— IndyStar (@indystar) April 27, 2025

During the third quarter of a disappointing 117-101 road loss in Game 3 on Friday, Mathurin appeared to get hurt when he went careening onto the hardwood in an attempt to stop a Giannis Antetokounmpo drive.

As Dopirak observed, the Pacers would have needed to pair of second-year swingmen, Ben Sheppard and Jarace Walker, if Mathurin can't suit up on Sunday.

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Sheppard already had an impressive showing on Friday when starting wing Andrew Nembhard fell into some foul trouble early. In 15:26, Sheppard went 2-for-5 from the field and registered a +3 plus-minus for his efforts.

Dopirak writes in another story that head coach Rick Carlisle has indicated he's open to giving Sheppard more run — regardless of who else is or is not available.

“Time to get him involved,” Carlisle said of Sheppard. “He did some really good things in the first half…. He gives us another guy to chase [nine-time All-Star Bucks point guard] Lillard around a little bit. Look, we need all hands on deck. We need everybody. Guys are gonna have to be able to come in and possibly play short minutes from time to time to help us with matchups, to help us with rebounding, to help us with spacing. You name it.”

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Still, for now Mathurin ranks above Sheppard in the Pacers' pecking order.

Across 72 regular season bouts (49 starts), Mathurin averaged an impressive 16.1 points on .458/.340/.831 shooting splits, 5.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.7 steals. With the playoffs compelling Carlisle to tighten his rotations, Mathurin has seen his minutes slashed from 29.8 during the regular season to just 18.7 now. He's averaging 12.0 points on .400/.143/1.000 shooting splits, 3.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists, and clearly is having some trouble establishing a shooting rhythm.

Now, Indiana has made a final determination on the 6-foot-6 swingman's status.

Carlisle says Bennedict Mathurin is out for tonight.
— Dustin Dopirak (@DustinDopirak) April 28, 2025

Per Dopirak, Carlisle has revealed that Mathurin will not suit up, after all.

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