INDIANAPOLIS — After his first 10 days with the Pacers, Garrison Mathews had every reason to think his time with Indiana was over.

The Pacers had signed Mathews to a 10-day hardship exception contract because they needed a shooter, but Mathews barely made any shots. In five games in his first 10 days he hit just 2 of 13 field goal attempts — all of them 3s — and scored a total of nine points. However, the Pacers signed him to a second 10-day contract, and Mathews next 10 days were entirely different than his first. He scored a combined 34 points on 9 of 18 shooting including 7 of 15 from 3-point range in his last four games and that was enough for the Pacers to announced Thursday that they’ve signed Mathews to a non-guaranteed standard contract for the rest of the season. They waived forward Jeremiah Robinson-Earl to clear out the space to make it happen.

“The confidence and faith they have in me,” Mathews said when asked Thursday what the difference was from the first contract to the second. “I’m thankful that they gave me another 10-day after that first one. It’s tough sitting at home for a while. It took me a minute to get back into it, get in shape, get in playing shape. I’m thankful they gave me that opportunity.”

Mathews signed his first 10-day on Nov. 20 about a month after he was waived by the Knicks at the end of training camp. He went back home to Tennessee and was doing what he could to stay in shape, but he couldn’t find much in the way of high level pickup basketball to keep him in game-ready condition.

“The first 10 days were really about him getting re-conditioned to training camp conditioning,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. “Which he had with New York, but when you sit for a month, even if you’re at home working out on your own, it’s hard to simulate NBA practice, NBA training camp practices and NBA games. He worked really hard. There were strong signs that he was close.”

Once Mathews’ second 10-day contract expired, they had to make a decision between him and Robinson-Earl, who also signed two 10-day hardship exception contracts before he was moved to a standard, non-guaranteed deal. The Pacers were pleased with the performance of both players, but they ultimately viewed Mathews’ shooting as too important to let go. He’s a career 38.1% shooter with 476 3-pointers in seven NBA seasons spent almost entirely in bench roles. With the injury-ravaged Pacers currently 29th in the 30-team NBA in 3-point shooting percentage, they need someone to not only make shots but force opponents to guard them out on the perimeter.

“We know he has gravity,” Carlisle said. “He’s a guy who has to be accounted for on a scouting report. He’s a competitor and he fills a need for us right now. … If you don’t guard him, he’s gonna score. It’s pretty simple. Guys like that change the game. I coached Reggie Miller for many years. I coached Dirk Nowitzki for 11 out of my 13 years in Dallas. Those guys are in the Hall of Fame for a reason. They change the game because it changes the geometry of the court. The more guys you have on the floor that have to be guarded far out, it opens up the game.”

In Robinson-Earl the Pacers are moving on from a player who was also impactful and who brought production in what has been an area of weakness. The former Villanova star averaged 5.2 rebounds per game and 10.5 rebounds per 36 minutes which put him second on the team behind center Isaiah Jackson. Robinson-Earl shot just 34.9% from the floor and 24.2% from 3-point range in 17 games, but gave them a long-armed wing defender who could guard multiple positions and get his hands on the ball.

“It was not easy to let him go,” Carlisle said. “He’s a very solid player. He has all the qualities that we like in a player for our program here. He’s got integrity. He goes hard. He’s an attention-to-detail guy. He’s a preparation guy. We’ll see. There’s a chance that perhaps he could end up playing for the Boom. I know he has some other opportunities as well. He’s making that decision now.”

Dustin Dopirak covers the Pacers all season. Get more coverage on IndyStarTV and with the Pacers Insider newsletter.