'One guy I'm really excited to play against': Bennedict Mathurin battles with Luguentz Dort for the first time

Mathurin and Dort have a relationship dating back years

Indiana Pacers rookie guard Bennedict Mathurin was looking forward to going against one player in particular at the NBA level, and it finally happened on Wednesday night.

"One guy I'm really excited to play against is Luguentz Dort," Mathurin said last summer. Dort and Mathurin are both Canadian and grew up in the same neighborhood, so they have a long standing relationship.

Currently, Dort plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Wednesday, the Thunder hosted the Pacers for the first meeting between the two teams this season. It was the first of likely many battles at the professional level between the two Canadians.

Dort's Thunder walked away with a 126-106 win. Mathurin finished with 13 points and five rebounds while Dort had 22 points and 11 rebounds. The Thunder forward also finished with one block which was, fittingly, on a Mathurin jump shot in the third quarter.

"He is definitely going to stay in the league a long time," Dort said of Mathurin after the game, per Rylan Stiles of Locked On Thunder. Dort later called Mathurin a bucket. The Pacers rookie is averaging 17.1 points per game.

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Dort and Mathurin go way back, and the Oklahoma City forward went to the NBA draft this past June to support Mathurin. He then posted a picture on Instagram congratulating Mathurin after he was selected by the Pacers. They are close.

Mathurin penned a piece in The Players' Tribune just before training camp and mentioned Dort by name as one of the premier basketball talents from Montreal, where Mathurin was born.

"It was good, it was an honor for me," Mathurin said of going against Dort, per the Pacers. "It was a great thing for Montreal but also the Haitian community just to have two Haitian-Canadians playing against each other in the NBA. It was a great thing," he added. Both Dort and Mathurin are of Haitian descent. Mathurin's family flew to Indiana to make him, and the Pacers, a Haitian meal earlier this season.

it had been four years since @BennMathurin ate a home-cooked meal from his mom.

this week, his mom and sister flew in to surprise him & the team with his favorite Haitian meal to celebrate his first NBA game.🥰 pic.twitter.com/2VM6KRTQq7

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) October 21, 2022

Mathurin and Dort swapped jerseys on the court of the Paycom center after the duel. It was a game, and a moment, that both players had been looking forward to for a long time. There will be many, many more battles between the two in the years to come.

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