This one stat shows Mathurin cooling off after hot start

Bennedict Mathurin's impact has been trending in the wrong direction this season, according to Dean Oliver's NBA Net Points Metric.

This Net Points Metric attempts to assign blame and credit for every play in every game to properly assign impact better in the Net Positive and Net Negative department of measuring on-court impact.

After three of his first four games started off with a bang, he's had relatively negative impact in almost every game since, other than two more big performances in December.

Mathurin posted +5.3 Net Points and +4.3 Net Points Indiana's first two games, two weeks later, he dropped in another +5.3 Net Points outing, a month after that, he added +6.8 Net Points and +5.4 Net Points showings to his resume this season.

Benn Mathurin only posted two more games with positive ratings; the other fifteen have been negative ratings by Net Points.

In box score terms, the positives included a 36pts & 11reb opening night plus a 26pts & 4ast night in October, a 24pts & 12reb night in November, and then a 28pts night with a 25pts night in December where he rained in 10 threes over two games.

The up-and-down nature of Mathurin's production, shooting, and impact is not unusual for his game, but usually Indiana is able to adjust on the fly with Mathurin in a sixth man role on the bench instead of the resident starter being asked to be one of the team's top scoring options.

Dean Oliver's Net Points Game Log for Mathurin | MANDATORY CREDIT: Dean Oliver

Players who have shown in-season changes in productivity
- Green = Improvers, Red = Decliners
- Randle, Mathurin, Maxey hot O starts now cooling
- MPJ getting better
- 3 OKC players decline
- Brunson, Reaves, Murray showing D declines pic.twitter.com/OjhO2eoL2E
— Dean Oliver (@DeanO_Lytics) December 30, 2025

Increasing Backups' Shot Volume is the test for Starter-level Efficiency

Mathurin and Durant smil — Dec 29, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin (00) and Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) talk to official Danica Baroody (89) in the first quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

These are the brakes of losing your star player and leading scorer to injury; a player who is less consistent may be asked to fill shoes a few sizes too big.

Maybe they are not ready for roles where they have to show up consistently, even if they can still produce on any given night or in the right matchup.

Mathurin is generally a walking bucket in this league, a bonafide bucket-getter who can show of his quick burst, feathery jumper, and scoring mentality when he's able to pick his spots.

When asked to produce consistently, and at a high volume, the efficiency comes and goes with major swings, let along when you add the volatility of the 3-ball.

Technically, Mathurin has increased his scoring total to a career-high 18 points per game this season while maintaining a similar 57% TS% as before despite taking two additional shots per game.

Bennedict Mathurin's FG% is a career-low due to missing more twos than before, but he's taking two more threes per game than ever before while hitting them at as good of a clip as ever, 37% 3P%.

Finding a role where Mathurin can drift in and out of scoring without the team fully being reliant on it for winning is the goal for Indiana long term, but may be hard to pull off until Hailburton returns.