The Good, The Bad, and What’s Next: The Pacers are so feathery

Myles Turner is out indefinitely

Myles Turner still has no return date in sight. Seems his elbow injury may be more serious than we first thought

The Pacers have played extremely well over the last four games, but don’t let that fool you. This team misses its up-and-coming center Myles Turner.

The Pacers announced via their Twitter account this week that Myles Turner had been diagnosed with a ligament sprain and muscle strain in his right elbow but would not require any surgery. However, he would miss the entire Western Conference road trip and then would be listed as “week-to-week,” from there on out.

Now I don’t know about you but when I saw that I may or may not have said “Oh S@%t” that’s bad.

I am typically a pretty positive person and take people at their word, but to me something smells fishy here. Let me take you back here for a second and layout the timeline.

Monday, January 8th – Indiana faces off against the Milwaukee Bucks. Myles Turner goes on a one-man fast break, slams it down and seems fine. Then throughout the rest of the game Turner could be seen grimacing and holding his elbow. No announcement or statement is made regarding an injury post-game, and everything goes on as per usual.

Tuesday, January 9th  – Per the Twitter account of Jeremiah Johnson, the Pacers announced that Myles Turner elbow was “sore” and that he was officially listed as questionable. However, no one from the Pacers mentioned anything. Instead it was Turner who told reporters that he hurt it on a dunk against the Bucks.

Wednesday, January 10th – This is when it gets interesting. The Pacers finally release an announcement saying quote “Center Myles Turner sustained a right elbow injury Monday night’s game against Milwaukee. Turner is being evaluated and an update will be provided when available. Turner will miss tonight’s game against Miami and Friday’s game against Cleveland.

That same night against the Miami Heat was the first time we all got a peek at Myles Turner, who showed up to the game sporting a dope trench coat. But it wasn’t his street clothes that caught everyone by surprise. Instead, it was the bionic, transformer-like brace/contraption that was on that injured arm.

Saturday, January 13th – The Pacers announce that Myles Turner would miss his third straight game as the team traveled to Phoenix in its first of five games on the west coast.

Monday, January 15th – Exactly one week after the injury took place against the Bucks, we finally got an “official” update on what exactly was going on with Turner. The Pacers announced that Turner would be out for the remainder of the Western Conference road trip with what was being called a “ligament sprain and muscle strain.”

I don’t want to be a Debbie-downer here, but I really am not sure what to think? Do I take the Pacers word? Is it really just a strain? Why is he wearing a transformer on his arm? Why did he rip his pants?

Let’s hope that this is just a minor injury and that Turner can return when the Pacers come home on Wednesday night to take on the Suns.

The Pacers have won three straight, but we’ve seen them get beat every night but one in points in the paint as well as be out-rebounded twice. They allowed Hassan Whiteside to have his best game since coming back from injury, even coming off a game the night before in Toronto, and they let Donovan Mitchell own the inside, and get just about whatever he wanted.

Don’t get me wrong Domantas Sabonis and Al Jefferson both played very well over the last four games, but neither is going to move the needle defensively. Bottom line Myles Turner needs to get ASAP!