Record home first for Benedikt Maturin!

this night Benedict Maturin played his first game in the Intuit Dome under the colors of the Clippers. A chance for the former Pacers to right his situation after a contrasting debut with Los Angeles. As soon as he entered the game in the first quarter, the guard scored 11 points, but he had the most in the second half.

With the Clippers trailing by ten points, he takes part in his team’s 9-0 run and allows the Californians to take a step back. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, a new teammate from Kawhi Leonard succeeds in a complicated 2+1 to bring the advantage to his team again.

If Benedict Maturin admits that he doesn’t know all of Tyronn Lue’s offensive schemes yet, he still manages to offer good sequences with his teammates, like when he manages to combine with John Collins after Kawhi Leonard’s throw-in.

“We talked at half-time: we couldn’t put many systems in place because he doesn’t know them yet, but we know the principles. Tyronn Lue admits. “When the first action starts, we know how to play. In the second half, we played better by spreading the game further and making the right decisions.”

Always looking for sights

For his part, Benedikt Maturin continues to ask his coach for help on the field in order to better acclimatize to the Clippers’ systems, as he explained after the meeting, not without humor: “He could be my best friend. He told me to be aggressive and be myself. He knows my game really well. He knows what I can do and I’m very happy to have him as my coach. We can do good things.”

Without fully knowing all the principles of the Clippers’ offensive game, Benedict Maturin still managed to tie his career high with 38 points on 12/22 shooting and a near-perfect 12/13 free throws. After him, Los Angeles won 115-114, and the Clippers rookie won the franchise record for points in a home debut and the record for points for a replacement in a home debut.

“Knowing a few systems helps a lot,” to confess Benedict Maturin with a smile on his face. “During the first two matches it was complicated because sometimes I didn’t know where to place myself. The more I play and the more I train with the team, the more it helps me find my places.”

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How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / attempt 3 points; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.