NBA hands Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin a 1-game suspension for conduct toward official

With only 3:58 left in Indiana’s 127-117 home defeat to Cleveland on Tuesday night, Bennedict Mathurin’s head was heated and nowhere to be found, as he mistakenly had inappropriate contact with a game official. These actions just earned him a one-game suspension without play, despite his postgame apologies.

This Wednesday, the NBA confirmed that the Pacers guard would be penalized, as he also verbally abused the referee while discussing a controversial call. “It was the moment,” the player said later with regret. “The game is so intense, especially myself — being this competitive, I just want to win. It was an unfortunate situation, but I was able to learn from it.”

According to Bennedict, after the contest he looked for official Natalie Sago to say he was sorry. “I went to see Natalie, and everything’s alright,” he assured the press. “(I) wanted to apologize for the unfortunate situation. We were able to end on good terms. I wish her to have a great night, and the next time we meet, it’s all friendly.”

This now means that Mathurin will have to sit out an important game on Thursday night against the Pistons, a direct Eastern Conference rival. Not only will he hurt his team by not being around during the clash with Detroit, the suspension will also hurt his wallet, as it will cost him $41,642.

The guard, who has been averaging 16.5 points in 41 games so far this season, was charged with a foul on rival forward Evan Mobley in last night’s fourth quarter. His contact with the Cavaliers forward happened as he was in shooting motion near the rim with only four minutes left to the final buzzer.

After the call was made, Bennedict approached the referee while clapping in her face, yelling and even bumping into her. The 22-year-old recognized later that this happened in the “heat of the game” at the time, and promised to learn from his mistakes.

“I feel like every time I did not come out on a play, everything came out pretty good,” he noted after watching the clip of what happened. “It all started with my turnover and I just knew that trying to get back — I feel like it was a great place to redeem myself, but also for the team.”