OKC Thunder guard Lu Dort knew Bennedict Mathurin would be special

The Oklahoma City Thunder faced off with the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, and it was the first time that childhood friends Bennedict Mathurin and Lu Dort faced off with one another at the NBA level. Both of them are from Montreal Canada and grew up together with the same basketball coaches, and programs. From intense summer workouts to funny childhood stories, this is a matchup you can only dream of.

The Pacers rookie has had this game circled on his calendar since the night the schedule came out. Way back in June, Bennedict Mathurin told those of us in the media that he could not wait to match up with Lu Dort in the pros “he calls me little bro, but imma show him it’s me that’s big bro.”

When Lu Dort was presented with that challenge he said “I love it. Me and Ben played in the same program growing up. He set up the challenge, I can’t wait myself to play against him. How big it is for us, our culture, our city.”

Oklahoma City Thunder guard Lu Dort always knew that Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin would be special, open up about their relationship

On Wednesday, the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 126-108, as the team got off to a blitzing 19-1 start in the contest and despite a second-quarter Pacers run that trimmed the lead down to three, the Thunder got back into gear and won comfortably.

Speaking of comfortability, Lu Dort looked extremely comfortable getting loose for a trio of triples on his way to 22 points, a career-high 11 rebounds, a block of his childhood best friend Bennedict Mathurin, and a steal. Mathurin played 23 minutes while posting 13 points on ten shots, with five rebounds.

After the game, Oklahoma City Thunder guard-forward Lu Dort was asked about his relationship with and playing against Bennedict Mathurin and said “it was good…he is going to stay in this league a long time.” Dort said with a big smile.

He added “From where we grew up, it was not easy. Just to be here, have each other’s back…it is big.”

Lu Dort reflected on their summer workouts, noting that the summer before Mathurin’s second year at Arizona “he was giving me buckets” Dort chuckled, “I told him if you are able to score like that on me, you’re going to crush it.” Mathurin did just that, working his way into being an NBA Lottery pick.

When asked how many of those games the rookie won against the Thunder guard Dort said “He did give me buckets, there were some games I lost.” Giving Lu Dort buckets is no small feat in the game of basketball. Lu Dort earned his money by locking up NBA stars.