Rookie Shooting Guard, Who Got Bullied By James Harden While Guarding, Early Favorite For Rookie of the Year Award
James Harden of the Philadelphia 76ers finally provided an NBA highlight reel play for viewers. After causing Indiana Pacers youngster Bennedict Mathurin to tumble to the ground, Harden sank a 3-pointer, throwing Twitter users into a frenzy. James Harden has developed a reputation for producing plays worthy of the highlight reel. Harden regularly humiliates defenders with his accurate outside shooting and deft handling.
Harden gave Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin his “welcome to the league” moment by dropping him and making a 3-pointer in his face during their matchup. However, the Pacers rookie, despite the fall, has been incredible this season so far.
Bennedict Mathurin, who went down defending James Harden, is an early favorite for Rookie of the Year
The 2022–23 rookie class has had a lot of promising starts. For the Pistons, Jaden Ivey has demonstrated his ability to easily get to the rim; for the Kings, Keegan Murray has been lighting it up; and for the Trail Blazers, Shaedon Sharpe has displayed the explosive athleticism that earned him a top choice.
Bennedict Mathurin’s last 3 games:
27 PTS – 7 REB – 2 AST
26 PTS – 5 REB – 2 AST
19 PTS – 7 REB – 2 AST pic.twitter.com/sBIXkyJyZy— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 23, 2022
However, Bennedict Mathurin and Paolo Banchero are the two clear front-runners for Rookie of the Year. With his impressive stature and scoring prowess, Banchero has demonstrated that he is more than NBA-ready. Through the first four games for the Magic, he scored 22.8 points on average. But Mathurin, the Pacers’ sixth-round selection, has so far dominated.
Bennedict Mathurin has scored the most points by any NBA rookie through three games since 1995.🤯
That's Revved Up.🔥 pic.twitter.com/lHzTp7zvad
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 23, 2022
It requires courage to pick up James Harden as a defensive assignment. Harden gave Mathurin the work on this play, even though Mathurin was able to stay in front of him. Mathurin is only going to learn from here and improve upon his performance.
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