It’s hard not to be happy for Myles Turner as the Indiana Pacers sell-out crowd chants his name during the fourth quarter of game four of their first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
As the chants echo through Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the 6’11” Texas native comes off a screen from his point guard Tyrese Haliburton in a delightful reversal of roles, receives a pass from Andrew Nembhard, and buries his sixth 3-pointer of the game. The ensuing eruption from the crowd can be heard all the way back in Milwaukee where the Pacers will have a chance to finish the series in game five and advance to the second round for the first time in 10 years after going up 3-1 with the 126-113 win over their short-handed opponent.
“I run this [expletive],” Turner yells toward his bench after basking in the afterglow of the moment.
All of this for a player whose tenure with the Indiana Pacers has been defined by constant trade rumors as much as or possibly more than anything that’s happened on the court until recently. A few games into the beginning of last season, he was openly discussing why the Los Angeles Lakers should trade for him on The Woj Pod. In the off-season prior to the podcast, the Pacers signed Deandre Ayton to an offer sheet to be the rim-running big they thought would pair best with Haliburton and to replace Turner at center but the Suns matched the offer to their restricted free agent.
It’s seemed like Turner’s days in Indiana have been numbered too many times to count. When it was time for the Turbonis era to come to its natural end, it was the All Star Domantas Sabonis that was dealt first but Turner may have been shipped out to another team as well as the Pacers front office pivoted to a full rebuilld if not for an injury before the trade deadline that scared interested teams away. There were numerous reports that the Pacers tried to complete a sign-and-trade for Gordon Hayward in the 2020 off-season that would have sent Turner to the Celtics but Danny Ainge kept asking for more and Hayward eventually gave up on a homecoming to sign a more lucrative deal with the Charlotte Hornets.
The Pacers have dodged bullets like Neo—if Neo was just really lucky while fighting the machines of the Matrix—as countless Turner trade rumors all eventually dissipated without incident.
“That was special,” Turner said of the crowd in the fourth quarter. “I didn’t realize I hit the three while they were chanting my name. I saw that afterwards. But that was very special, just knowing how much the city means to me and they reciprocated that love. It was a dope moment for me.”
While Turner seemed at peace with his time in Indiana possibly coming to an end before signing his extension in the middle of last year, he also never asked to be dealt or seemed to desire an exit. Now, he’s the longest tenured Pacers player by a sizable margin in his 9th season after being drafted 11th overall in 2015, owns the franchise record for most career blocks, and only six players in franchise history have played in more games in a Pacers uniform than him.
Now following the two best regular seasons of his career as the big in the league’s most potent pick-and-roll combination with Haliburton, Turner’s trying to get out of the first round for the first time. He’s delivered on his end so far with three consecutive best (“for now”) career playoff games. After admitting to battling nerves in his first postseason game since the bubble and making just 5 of 17 shots, Turner has averaged 26.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2 blocks while making 54.7% of his shot attempts. The Pacers have outscored the Bucks by 46 points in these games in Turner’s 114 minutes.
The poetic chants were inspired by his superb second half including a 28-second stretch where Turner showcased all of things that make him a special, rare type of player. First, Turner morphed into prime Blake Griffin and turned Brook Lopez, who he battled back and forth with all night, into Timofey Mozgov as he threw it down over him after gaining a head of steam on the cut inside and detonated at the rim. It was no nasty that Pacers color commentator Quinn Buckner temporarily lost his ability to speak.
“Obviously it’s up there, but for me personally, I was just joking with my teammates — I feel like every postseason I get one of these since I’ve been in the league,” Turner said of his dunk. “So it’s nothing new for me. I tell them all the time, I’m not dunking the regular season, but postseason I’ll be straight. Got my legs right, just saw an opening and was able to make a great play.”
Then he blocked a Pat Connaughton drive to the basket and hit a 3-pointer on the next possession. Pushing the Pacers lead from 7 to 12 in the back half of the third quarter in quick order and forcing a timeout.
Turner unique skillset as a center put him in rare company with 7 triples in a game. Only he and Nikola Jokic have done so in the postseason as a center. Add three blocks to that and the only players who have accomplished those two things in one playoff game in the last 20 years are Turner and three of the best shooters in NBA history.
“He was sensational on both ends of the floor,” Pascal Siakam said. “Just playing with a lot of maturity and force, which is what we need from him … just being a beast out there on both ends. He’s been great.”
Myles Turner’s been in Indiana through the end of the Paul George era, the short-lived Victor Oladipo reign, played outside of his natural offensive position for multiple seasons with Domas Sabonis, and been a key reason the Pacers rebuild was relatively short. Now he’s in an ideal role as the third option on offense, free to let his shot fly with confidence when open and making teams pay for excessive attention placed on Haliburton and Siakam.
How far can the Pacers go this postseason? If Turner can keep this level of play up…
But first order of business, finishing off the Bucks.
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