Pacers' Bennedict Mathurin: Pours in 29 in loss

Mathurin closed Wednesday's 149-136 loss to the Bucks with 29 points (11-21 FG, 1-5 3Pt, 6-9 FT), nine rebounds, two assists and two steals across 41 minutes.

With each of the Pacers' top three players (Myles Turner, Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield) sitting out with injuries or illnesses, Mathurin once again took on heavy minutes and served as the centerpiece of the offense. He's now put up 55 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 75 percent shooting from the free-throw line over the Pacers' past two games, and he supplemented the offensive output Wednesday with solid numbers in the rebounds and steals categories. Considering he's averaging 4.0 boards and 0.6 steals per game on the season, Mathurin can't be counted on to regularly contribute in either area, but he should be a strong source of points down the stretch with the likelihood that all of Turner, Haliburton and Hield continue to miss more time.