Center matchup: Myles Turner v Joel Embiid/Amir Johnson
Myles Turner
Pertinent Stats:
13.3 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 37.1% 3 point shooting, 1.9 BPG
Turner’s 3rd season hasn’t gone exactly as planned. While the Pacers have wildly exceeded expectations in nearly all regards, Turner has been among the few disappointments. Myles has dealt with a few injuries and struggled to get much of any rhythm going in a season many Pacers fans thought he’d take a leap. Luckily for Pacers fan, he’s come on strong as of late. In the month of March, the Pacers were +13.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor. His numbers still showed a lot of variances (he sprinkled in some massive games with some less impressive ones), but he had his best defensive rating of any month this season, and often looked like the guy Pacers fans had been hoping for. If this really is Myles turning a corner, this team becomes even nastier.
vs
Amir Johnson/Joel Embiid
Pertinent Amir Johnson Stats:
4.3 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 29.6% 3 point shooting, 11 starts, 15.1 MPG
Advantage: Myles Turner
If Joel Embiid’s 2-4 week absence with a broken face (and, just as importantly, a concussion) winds up being anything more than 2, it will absolutely put the Sixers at a steep disadvantage. Amir Johnson is nothing more than a semi-adequate backup 5 at this point in his career, and hustle guy/rebounder. He will have his hands full trying to defend Myles Turner, though he could hurt Myles on the glass a little bit. Johnson is not a good player on the offensive end of the floor and gums up the already poor spacing the Sixers have.
If Embiid plays, this becomes a very tough task for Myles Turner. He’s an All-NBA level unicorn who does a lot of the same things Myles does, just at a higher level. If Embiid is out (it seems likely he’ll miss at least part of the series), this should be a huge advantage for the Pacers.