Bennedict Mathurin maintains a glass-half-full outlook as the Indiana Pacers aim to end an eight-game losing streak when they take on the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday in Indianapolis.
Indiana currently has the worst record in the league, having taken the Oklahoma City Thunder to seven games last season in the NBA Finals.
But Mathurin is optimistic the Pacers are just one winning streak away from being in contention again.
“We’re 1-13 right now, (but) there are teams in the NBA that have won 10 games in a row,” he said Monday after Indiana’s 127-112 loss to the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons. “Why can’t we be a team that wins 10 games in a row? It’s about believing, doing what’s right for our team.
“… We’ve just got to stick with it. People are acting like it’s the end of the world. If it was 1-57, I’d say maybe, but 1-13 – we’ve played 14 games. That’s not even 15 percent of the season. I’m still positive. . … I’m really excited. We’ve lost a lot of games, but, like I said, it’s pretty early. We have a chance to turn things around. I fully believe in it.”
Pascal Siakam had 29 points and seven rebounds against Detroit, while Mathurin scored 25 in his first game back after missing the previous 11 with a sprained right toe.
Mathurin came out rusty, with two points and three fouls in the first half, before scoring nine and 14 in the last two quarters.
“(His) first half was tough because of the fouls,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “(Mathurin) couldn’t do anything pace-wise. In the third quarter, he found the rhythm. He had a great run in the second half, which was great to see.”
The biggest problem for Indiana was turnovers. The Pacers had 21 against the Pistons, which were converted into 30 points.
When asked if he saw anything thematic in that high number, Carlisle responded: “Yes, throw it to the team in blue (Detroit) and not the team in white (Indiana).
“They were physical, they were pressuring all over the court. They play with a lot of physicality, friction and they forced us to do certain things. And some of them weren’t forced. The unforced things are the ones we have to clean up.”
Charlotte is on a three-game skid after suffering a crushing 110-108 road loss to the Toronto Raptors on Monday.
Toronto’s RJ Barrett scored the deciding basket with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter before Ryan Kalkbrenner, Miles Bridges and Collin Sexton were all unable to tie the game for the Hornets in the final seconds.
Kon Knueppel had 24 points, Bridges contributed 22 and LaMelo Ball added 20.
“I feel like down the stretch we need to close out games a lot better,” said Sexton, who scored 17 points. “It’s a learning experience. We’ll continue to learn from it.”
Charlotte coach Charles Lee was proud of the spirit his team showed.
“I loved the fight, the competitiveness,” he said. “I liked our process on a lot of plays we made late in the game. I thought we gave ourselves a chance to win with our execution, with our ability to create open shots or offensive rebounds.”
–Field level media
