Myles Turner Turns 20, Sparks Pacers Down the Home Stretch
By Ryan Eggers
Myles Turner leads the Indiana Pacers to a crucial late-season victory and more importantly, shows a side of himself that might carry the team to a deep playoff run.
What a night for the birthday boy.
On the day that Pacers media had to finally retire the “…and he’s still a teenager” line (although we still have one more year of “…and he still can’t legally drink yet”), Myles Turner gave us all a present as he led the team to a win against the deflated New Orleans Pelicans. Turner took his 20th birthday gift — a game against 8 Pelicans players with a combined average of 33.8 PPG — and turned it into one of his best performances of the season with 24 points on 11 of 17 shooting, 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks.
Turner’s game was a strong punctuation mark to the otherwise forgettable sentence that was his performance in the Pacers’ five-game homestand, with previous scoring outputs of 10, 10, 9, and 6 (and a semi-alright 6.8 RPG over those first four contests). The question that remains is how far his birthday success will take him.
Throughout February, the talk of the town was Turner and his rise to possible stardom, but a quiet March had settled the conversation. His showing against the Pelicans combined with the birthday angle, Papa Turner and this dunk in the first quarter will likely be a juicy enough story to bring those talks back even on a semi-national level, but all eyes can’t be on his magnificent offensive prowess.
Myles Turner in the Last Seven Days | PointAfter
Aside from the fact that he had a major part in allowing Alexis Ajinca to go for 22 points and 9 rebounds, the eye test didn’t bode so well for Turner outside of the stat sheet. The number of times Thursday where Turner’s confusion caused a turnover, a bad screen or a broken play well-approached double digits, a trend that can’t continue. Monta Ellis was notably frustrated, having direct communication errors with the rookie multiple times over the game, and this isn’t the first time we’ve seen that this season.
The Pacers still got the win, but when you’re only up 4 late in a game against a roster with an equal amount of suits and jerseys, it doesn’t look good. Paul George was out for most of the second half of course, but the game was never out of reach for the Pelicans, even after Turner’s dominant 16 and 9 first half. Most of this can be attributed to a poor performance from the rest of team, specifically everyone else in the frontcourt, but it’s not something that can slide against teams that are even a smidge healthy.
For Turner to be the supplementary star that the Pacers have always needed, he needs to keep finding the balance between his own pace and the flow of the offense. This is a lot to ask for someone who isn’t even allowed in a casino in Indiana, but if the Pacers want a shot at winning in the first round of the playoffs and maybe even a run at going to the Eastern Conference Finals, he’ll need to keep growing up, and fast.
“He had a big boy game” — Paul George, on Turner’s 24 and 16 performance
But with his hustle, aggressiveness, and absolutely gorgeous jumper, it’s clear that Turner is everything Larry Bird wanted and more. His birthday game confirmed that he’s still got it coming off of a hot February, and perhaps his growth in age also symbolized a growth in his game. A career-high 16 rebounds showed a side of Turner that we haven’t seen often from the near-7-footer. As Paul George so eloquently put it, “he had a big boy game”.
If he can keep playing within himself, within his role as the second or third option on the team (depending on Ellis’ night) and along with frontcourt partner Ian Mahinmi (who had an abysmal 3 points and 3 boards), then he’s just the right spark this Pacers squad needs to be more than the sum of their parts down the final stretch of the season and in the playoffs. He makes mistakes — as any rookie does — but he also can put up a game like tonight, which hardly any rookie does.
Will Turner be the star the Pacers need? Maybe. Is he on the right track? Definitely. Will it translate into playoff success this year? Hopefully.
Next: Pacers Move Up Slightly In the Power Rankings
Happy birthday, Myles. Celebrate as much as a “…and he still can’t legally drink yet” player can.