(Oklahoma City) In the first game between Quebec youth clubs Bennedict Mathurin and Luguentz Dort, the latter scored 22 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Indiana Pacers 126-106 on Wednesday.
Dort is in his fourth season with OKC; Mathurin was drafted sixth overall last year.
It was the first confrontation between the athletes from Montreal North, who are good friends.
The two players with Haitian roots also exchanged their shirts after the match.
Dort also had a career-high 11 rebounds to help the team win a fourth straight game.
Mathurin had 13 points for Indiana, which dropped for the fifth straight game.
Tyrese Haliburton, the NBA’s assists leader, missed his fourth straight game with elbow and knee problems.
The Thunder will visit the Pacers on March 31. A match that will be presented on RDS, as was the one on Wednesday.
Fifth in points per game in the NBA this season, Ontarian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 23 points.
Isaiah Joe provided just as many, tying a personal best.
Joe made no less than seven three-point shots.
Dort went three-for-five in that aspect—three days after a five-for-seven night at that level in Brooklyn.
On this evening showcasing Canadian talent, the Pacers’ leading scorer was Ontario’s Andrew Nembhard, with 18 points.
The Thunder quickly took a 17-1 lead, eventually taking a 58-44 lead in a first half where Dort provided 17 points.
Dort had the upper hand against Mathurin in direct confrontation midway through the third quarter. Dort racked off a block and shortly after, Kenrich Williams hit a long shot to give the Thunder an 80-63 lead.
Mark Daigneault’s group would add seven more unanswered points, punctuating a 14-0 flurry.
OKC will play again Friday in Sacramento. The Pacers will play in Denver the same night.