INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana guard and Montreal native Bennedict Mathurin put on a show for Pacers fans Friday night, earning the Rising Stars MVP award after scoring 13 points in a 26-13 victory in the championship game.
San Antonio Spurs rookie Victor Wembanyama didn't make it that far. Despite scoring 11 points, his team was eliminated in the second game.
Jalen Williams, Mathurin's teammate, scored the other 13 points to give coach Jalen Rose, a former Toronto Raptors player, the title.
But it was an all-Pacers celebration.
In addition to Mathurin's big night — he heard “M-V-P! M-V-P!” chants while scoring a game-high 18 in the first game — Rose and coach Detlef Schrempf, both former Pacers players also advanced to the championship round. And Indiana rookie Oscar Tshiebwe led Schrempf's team with eight points in the title game.
Mathurin's early scoring flurry helped Rose's team pull out to a quick 12-4 lead and a 6-0 run set it up for Oklahoma City's Williams to close it out.
The event features NBA rookies, sophomores and NBA G League players.
Mathurin, 21, had 22 total points in two games and was a unanimous pick as MVP. He's the third Canadian to be named MVP of the event, following Andrew Wiggins of Vaughan, Ont. in 2015 and Jamal Murray of Kitchener, Ont. in 2017.
Mathurin is in his second year with the Pacers. He's averaging 14.1 points per game this season.
The Pacers selected the six-foot-five guard sixth overall out of Arizona in the 2022 NBA Draft. Mathurin was named to the NBA all-rookie first team last season.
Mathurin plays on a Pacers team that also includes Andrew Nembhard of Aurora, Ont. and former Toronto Raptors star Pascal Siakam.
-- with files from Sportsnet.
