Pacers’ Rick Carlisle reacts to controversial Bennedict Mathurin ejection

The Indiana Pacers went off to a stellar start in Game 4 of their second-round matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Raring to redeem themselves after a substandard Game 3 performance in a blowout loss, the Pacers started the game out strong, wasting no time in taking their first double-digit lead of the game courtesy of an Obi Toppin three to put them up 22-10. Shortly after that, however, the Pacers lost Bennedict Mathurin for the night after he incurred a flagrant foul penalty two for a closed fist blow on De’Andre Hunter.

Mathurin gave Hunter a little bit of a swing to the gut, and the Cavs forward sold it, nearly prompting a full-blown fracas between the two teams. But thankfully for the Pacers, Mathurin’s absence did not end up turning the game for the worse, as they seemed to feed off from the crowd’s energy from that point forward and taking a 41-point lead (80-39) at the halftime interval before finishing things up in the second half en route to a 129-109 win and a 3-1 series lead.

The Pacers definitely dodged a bullet; if the game was closer, they certainly could have used Mathurin’s scoring and ability to create shots out of thin air. But this all ended up being a learning experience for the 22-year-old forward, who had nearly the entire game to reflect upon his actions that warranted an early disqualification.

“I still have a lot of questions about it. Whatever happened, happened. It’s a learning experience for him. Playoff series’ are chippy and personal. We’ve got to stay out of the weeds,” Carlisle said, per Tyler Smith of Indy Sports Legends.

There was already something brewing between Mathurin and Hunter during the Pacers’ Game 3 loss on Friday night, but Mathurin has to do a better job of keeping his cool, especially with the team counting on him to play a spark-plug role off the bench.

Bennedict Mathurin’s early ejection does not cost the Pacers