INDIANAPOLIS — Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin wanted his family to have something to cheer about after traveling to Indianapolis for All-Star weekend.
Turns out, the crowd enjoyed Mathurin’s championship run, too.
San Antonio rookie Victor Wembanyama never got the chance to celebrate Friday night. Despite scoring 11 points in the second of the night’s three games, Wembanyama was eliminated in his first All-Star contest.
Instead, two second-year players — Mathurin and Oklahoma City guard Jalen Williams — led Team Jalen past Team Detlef 26-13 in the Rising Stars championship game. Mathurin celebrated by taking home MVP honors.
“To see my family and friends traveling all this way just to see my have a good time, I felt I needed to play well,” Mathurin said after scoring 22 points in two games. “If I’m being totally honest, it’s also my makeup to make sure I bring it home, so that was the main thing.”
Mathurin, a first-team all-rookie selection last season, stole the show as teammates Myles Turner and Tyrese Haliburton, a first-time All-Star starter rooting for him.
The crowd even serenated briefly with chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!”
Mathurin’s strong showing may not have been a surprise, but Wembanyama’s early exit was. And the 20-year-old French sensation certainly wasn’t pleased with the result.
“I want to win and I hate losing,” he said. “But at the same time, I have so much going on and you know I’m happy that I just knocked one thing off the list this weekend. So it’s mixed feelings.”
But it was an all-Pacers celebration.
Coaches Jalen Rose and Detlef Schrempf, both former Pacers players reached the championship round. And Indiana rookie Oscar Tshiebwe led Schrempf’s team with eight points in the title game.
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