Five observations: Pacers lottery picks Bennedict Mathurin and Jarace Walker keys to win

The Pacers can't hang a lot of relevance on their 129-117 win over the Cavaliers on Thursday, considering Cleveland held out four of its starters including Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley as well as top sub and former Pacers guard Caris LeVert. That's not nearly the same as beating the team that grabbed last year's No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference and took out the young and dangerous Magic before losing to the Celtics in five games in the semifinals.

That being said, there were several individual performances worth noting and a few impressive moments of team adjustments that can be used as building blocks as the Pacers return home next week for two home preseason games. With that in mind, here are five observations.

This was the Bennedict Mathurin the Pacers were hoping for

In his first two appearances this preseason -- the Fan Jam scrimmage and Tuesday's loss to the Hawks -- Bennedict Mathurin had the look of a hitter gripping his bat too tight. He views himself as having a lot to prove this season and seemed to want to do it all at once. He forced some action and shots, and generally just looked like he was pressing. In Fan Jam, he was 1 of 8 from the floor. Against the Hawks he was 2 of 7, including 0 of 3 from beyond the arc.

But something seemed to calm his nerves significantly in the last two days, and it seemed to help that he checked in with Obi Toppin and T.J. McConnell before the rest of the second unit for a few minutes with Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner, even though he didn't score in that stretch.

Mathurin didn't force action but allowed the ball to find him and shot it confidently. His first 3 was a catch-and-shoot opportunity when he passed the ball out to Toppin at the top of the key, Toppin passed the ball right back to him on the left wing and Mathurin smoothly turned and knocked it down. He scored again just before the end of the first quarter, driving from behind the timeline, spinning into the lane and hitting a floater to beat the buzzer.

From there Mathurin’s confidence just kept growing. He scored two more buckets in the second quarter -- one on an offensive rebound putback and the other on a baseline fadeaway -- to enter halftime with 11 points and in the third he went off, drilling a 3-pointer less than 30 seconds into the second half to give the Pacers the lead and then going on to knock down three more 3-pointers in the period, using jab steps to create space. He scored 14 points in that period alone to finish with 25 on 8 of 12 shooting including 5 of 8 from 3-point range to go with three rebounds, an assist and no turnovers in 19 minutes. The Pacers were +15 in his time on the floor.

Mathurin's jumper looks smoother this season. He seems to have more arc to it and the entire operation just seems much more in sync. He already made drastic improvements between Year 1 and Year 2, improving his 3-point percentage from .323 to .374. Whether or not he makes the same leaps in terms of percentage, he has reason to feel confident to take more 3s, which is something the Pacers want him to do so he's making quick decisions and keeping the pace moving. If he begins the year with the second unit, those guys will clearly be focused on making sure he gets the ball with a chance to score. Even if he's not a starter there could be a lot of nights this season when he puts up the kind a of numbers he did Thursday and if he's on from 3 he might not need that many shots to do it.

Jarace Walker shot perfect

It was notable, first off, that Jarace Walker entered the game when he did and that his fellow second-year wing Ben Sheppard didn't check in at the same time.

The injuries that kept centers Myles Turner and Isaiah Jackson out of Tuesday's game in Atlanta spared coach Rick Carlisle from having to make a decision between which of Walker and Sheppard to use with McConnell, Toppin and Mathurin in the second unit. The Pacers started James Wiseman at center and Toppin moved from the backup power forward spot to backup center, allowing the Pacers to play Sheppard and Mathurin at the 2 and 3 and Walker at the 4.

But having Turner back as the starter, Jackson as the backup and Toppin at the 4 meant Carlisle had to choose between Sheppard and Walker to play next to Mathurin on the wing and Carlisle went with Walker. Sheppard has more experience, having earned a rotation spot and even started in last year's playoffs. However, Walker -- who was a lottery pick while Sheppard went No. 26 -- has more size and a higher ceiling and Carlisle's decisions suggests he's playing well enough to be trusted with significant minutes.

Walker's performance on Thursday backed up that assertion. He seemed confident in his role, especially on the offensive end when he kept the ball moving until it found him open. It took him just three field goal attempts to score 12 points. He made all three, including a pair of 3-pointers, and also knocked down four free throws.

All three of Walker's buckets were assisted by T.J. McConnell and aided by Walker's own movement. His lone layup came after he handed the ball off to McConnell at the right elbow, ran around Toppin at the top of the key and then cut straight to the rim. He hit two open catch-and-shoot 3s and looked steady doing so, the product of extensive work on his jumper since he was drafted. After making a modest 34.7% of his 3s in college, Walker missed his first five professional 3-point attempts but ended up making 40% of his 3s with the Pacers and 40% with the Mad Ants in his rookie season. He seems to have built on that and he'll have more opportunities if he's the Pacers' second-unit small forward.

He's also playing with physicality. He wasn't dominant on defense Thursday -- nobody on the Pacers really was -- but he grabbed four rebounds including three on the defensive end in 18 minutes. The Pacers were +18 when he was on the floor, which was the best plus-minutes figure of anyone on the roster. It's obviously way too early to say Walker has arrived, but the trend line looks good for him to at least be a productive rotation player in his second season.

The Pacers defense can still be really porous

This collection of Pacers has a history of struggling against teams it's supposed to beat and -- more relevant to this particular point -- struggling against teams that are desperately short-handed.

In this case, the Cavaliers were down several men, mostly by choice. Wings Max Strus and Sam Merrill were dealing with injuries, but Mitchell, Garland, Mobley and LeVert all simply had the night off as they gear up for the season and new coach Kenny Atkinson looked to see the whole of his roster on the floor. The Cavs started point guard Ty Jerome -- who missed all of last season with injury -- rookie Jaylon Tyson, forwards Isaac Okoro and Dean Wade and All-Star center Jarrett Allen. Allen is the only one of the group who averaged double figures last season.

But despite the fact that the Pacers were not only playing all of their starters but keeping their rotations tight in the first half, they had a tough time keeping the Cavaliers from getting the ball to the rim and scoring.

The Cavs made their first three shots to start the game and take a 7-0 lead. They took a 31-28 lead at the end of the first quarter, shooting 12 of 23 from the field and 5 of 9 from 3, then hung 39 points in the second quarter to take a 70-69 lead at the break. They were shooting 28 of 48 (58.3%) and 8 of 17 from 3-point range at halftime. The Cavs scored 34 of their 70 points in the paint. They also had 10 second-chance points, scoring on five of their six offensive rebounds.

Allen scored 13 points on 6 of 8 shooting, but others were harder to contain than they probably should have been. Okoro scored nine points on 4 of 6 shooting -- not well above his average, but he found it easy to drive to the rim. Jerome went off for 15 points and eight assists. Tyson had 11 on 5 of 7 shooting. Craig Porter Jr. had 14 points off the bench. Jules Bernard, who was on a two-way contract last season with the Wizards, scored 11 and hit three 3-pointers.

The tide turned for the Pacers because of defense in the third quarter, but only after the starters had called it an evening. The Cavs scored just 18 points on 8 of 21 shooting, including 2 of 9 from 3, posting just 0.72 points per possession in the period. The Pacers' second-unit players were all +11 or better during the period.

Still, the first-half trouble showed to many issues guarding the dribble and guarding pick-and-rolls and preventing open 3s. It's a preseason game and one that was hard to get up for, but as a snapshot in mid-October it shows that there is still much progress to be made on defense.

James Wiseman had another good night

Myles Turner and Isaiah Jackson returned from the injuries that kept them out of Tuesday's preseason opener and both had solid evenings. Turner scored 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting. Jackson hit a jump shot -- a rarity for him -- and grabbed three rebounds and blocked three shots in just under 10 minutes.

So James Wiseman didn't start and he didn't come out with the second unit either. But the 7-1, 240-pounder was way too much for the bench players on the Cavaliers to handle. In just 10 minutes and 46 seconds, Wiseman scored eight points on 4 of 6 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds. He showed touch with a left-hook shot but also force around the rim. Again, he's not going to start and there are going to be times when Jackson is the better option, but Wiseman is giving the Pacers every reason to believe he could be not only effective but dominant when called upon.

Enrique Freeman shows out at home

This game might not have mattered much to most of its participants, but it meant a great deal to rookie Enrique Freeman, the Cleveland native who starred at Akron, leading Division I in rebounding as a senior. Freeman might come back to Cleveland this year, but he's on a two-way contract so he also might not. His family and friends took advantage of the moment as he had more than 50 people on hand for Thursday night's game.

As Rick Carlisle tends to do, he found opportunities for Freeman to shine. He actually checked in first among players who would be considered part of the third unit and he played 16 minutes and 18 seconds, more than Ben Sheppard and more than starters Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith.

He responded with a performance like so many of the ones he had at Akron. He posted nine points and nine rebounds with seven of those boards coming on the offensive glass. He was energetic on both ends and even showed range knocking down a 3-pointer. He also added an assist and a blocked shot.

The evening didn't end well as he came down awkwardly on his right leg late in the game. It seemed like he was dealing with cramps but it wasn't clear what his injury was. Veteran James Johnson Jr. ultimately had to help him to the locker room.

Freeman is on a two-way contract and considering the makeup of the rest of the roster he'll likely spend more time with the Mad Ants this year than the Pacers. But his energy on Thursday was a sign the second-round pick might have a chance to make an impact in the long term.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Five observations: Pacers lottery picks Bennedict Mathurin and Jarace Walker keys to win