On Bennedict Mathurin's shot less taken (Patreon)

And the unique moment that he was uniquely suited for 

By: Caitlin Cooper I @C2_Cooper  

After defeating the Boston Celtics, 133-131, in what was a game that went from heart-stopping, when Tyrese Haliburton had to be carried off the floor after slipping on the court, to heart-pounding, as his teammates came up big in the second half despite not having their usual big, late-game playmaker, Rick Carlisle said the following of the go-ahead shot that resulted in free throws for Bennedict Mathurin to perform in the clutch at the line:

"We have no one else on our team who can create that kind of a look and that kind of a foul situation."

With two seconds left to play and the ball being taken out on the sideline following a timeout, the Pacers came prepared with two sets. The first was a high cross-screen designed to get Bennedict Mathurin a downhill catch, likely with the intention of quickly burning Boston's foul-to-give. Once that order of business was out of the way, the Pacers assumed a new formation -- or rather, a different formation from that which they had just taken. This time, Mathurin took off from the weak-side wing, wheeling around a pair of staggered screens to come up firing from the corner. With the Celtics switching everything, that meant he had to find breathing room, as he had already done earlier in the quarter, against the gargantuan standing reach of Kristaps Porzingis, who perhaps in an effort to take back the space that was surrendered on the prior step-back, did more reaching against the leaning three-point attempt than standing.

From there, despite looking a little shaky after committing a turnover and creating a domino effect after getting back-cut, Mathurin went to the line and knocked down two of three free throws (arguably taking a risk by intentionally missing the third with 0.6 second left on the clock) to take the lead. At any rate, Carlisle is correct in that no one else on the team has taken that specific type of shot out of that specific play-type this season -- including Mathurin. In fact, the Pacers ran the very same sideline out of bounds play earlier in the game. Except, look at the role change for Mathurin. He's isn't rounding the curve of the screens, he's coming back toward the ball as the second screener, flipping possession back to Tyrese Haliburton.

There are more examples of that quick flip resulting in a three, but all of them come with Haliburton as the shooter after either rejecting the screen or getting weaked as the pick-and-roll ball-handler and ultimately relocating. 

Otherwise, when Haliburton isn't on the floor, the other means of generating a three typically involves Hield coming back to the ball as the second screener, just like Mathurin can be seen doing in the prior clips, only he stays at the controls, immediately pulling the trigger from deep or playing out of drive-and-kick with his activity and movement. 

Tellingly, even on the go-ahead shot against Boston, T.J. McConnell doesn't pass to Mathurin right away, as he instead appears to be eyeing the availability of Hield, maybe, as a decoy.

In Miami, the Pacers ran a slightly different variation, with the first screener turning around to curl into a pindown for the second against the lock-and-trail coverage, which saw Obi Toppin popping out to the top of the key for a three. Mathurin, meanwhile, continued the curl to the rim, locating Nesmith for the kick-out in the corner.

That's where Mathurin's visual awareness has improved when drawing help, but neither of those shots were in late-game scenarios or against switching defenses with the clock winding down. To that point, if the bones of this set look familiar, it's probably because it was the means by which Haliburton navigated Boston's maze of cross-matches, shining bright in turning off the lights on the Celtics with his four-point play, during the In-Season Tournament.

In that case, after dragging Jrue Holiday away from Myles Turner, Bruce Brown got the same touch rounding the bend to the corner as Mathurin, but only for the purpose of setting up the flare for Haliburton to remove Jalen Brown as the on-ball defender before flowing into the typical pick-and-roll action, with Hield eventually ghosting the switch to create a pocket of air. 

In the end, everything was coordinated for Haliburton, and Mathurin wasn't even in the game, let alone featured as an option. For the season, Mathurin has only attempted six shots with less than four seconds on the shot-clock during the fourth quarter when the score is within single digits. Of those shots, he's converted two, with both coming in the form of putbacks.

"I was excited," Mathurin said following the game of what he was feeling at the line with 0.6 remaining on the clock. It was the first time that I got the chance to really, (in) an even game, win the game." 

As such, what he did against Boston was unprecedented in that he earned being in the closing lineup, regardless of Haliburton's absence, while also being thrust into compensating for it out of a play that hadn't previously produced a three-point attempt from that option, which is to say nothing of the coverage. Remember, this was the result when the Blazers switched, albeit with the exception of Matisse Thybulle staying attached to Haliburton in the role of Mathurin.

For all of those reasons, Bennedict Mathurin's route to free throws against a giant without anyone blurring in front of him was very much the shot less taken, perhaps foreshadowing more shots to come and a literal changing of the guard -- depending upon the status of Tyrese Haliburton, both with regard to however long the star guard may be out as well as what he may need, at least at times, once when he returns.