Bennedict Mathurin made his first impression on Clippers fans Thursday night, and it should be a lasting one. Mathurin, who was traded to Los Angeles ahead of the deadline, scored 38 points in his first game at the Intuit Dome after scoring 25 total points in his first two road games with the Clippers.
While Mathurin also had five rebounds, four assists and three steals, but his most important contribution won't show up in the box score.
After Jamal Murray drew a foul on a last-second three-point attempt, Mathurin walked up to Murray at the line and had a brief conversation with the Nuggets' All-Star. There were shades of Scottie Pippen reminding Karl Malone about the weekly schedule of postal employees, but under less stressful conditions.
Murray smiled and appeared unbothered by knocking down the first two free throws. Then his third attempt rimmed out and time expired, and the Clippers won 115–114.
Maybe the worst part about all this was that Mathurin did this to a fellow countryman. And to do this just hours after Canada lost to Team USA in the women's hockey gold medal game? You absolutely hate to see it.
Bennedict Mathurin was seen trash-talking fellow Canadian Jamal Murray ahead of his game-tying free throw attempt. Murray missed the FT. 😳
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 20, 2026
(🎥: @NBA) pic.twitter.com/T0UqpRtQG4
Murray, a career 87% free throw shooter, finished the game making 8-of-10 at the line. Now he must wonder if he missed the clutch free throw because of numbers or whatever Mathurin said to him.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Benedict Mathurin Got Into Jamal Murray’s Face at FT Line Before Huge Miss in Clippers’ Win.
