A mask shouldn’t hold back Myles Turner and the Indiana Pacers

Myles Turner plays his first game in a mask after breaking his nose this week, but it shouldn’t slow him down as the Indiana Pacers look to keep winning.

In the middle of one of Myles Turner’s best games this season — and during the best stretch of his career — only one thing could stop the Indiana Pacers center: A broken nose.

The Pacers still got the win but with Turner stringing together a stretch where he isn’t far off a double-double (14.5 points/8.9 rebounds average over the last 21 games) and has provided justification his contract extension, the timing felt particularly unfortunate.

Turner only needed a 10-minute procedure to repair the damage, but as expected, he will play in a mask while his nose mend. A mask protects the wearer from further damage, but the player still plays hurt. It’s understandable if a player is less confident when they’ve got a few ounces of plastic hanging off their face as a reminder that yes, your face is broken.

It’s a long list of NBA players we’ve seen wear masks and an even shorter one of players that elevated their game while wearing one.

It’s not a given that a player steps up while their face is covered by a plastic shield or other protection. Monta Ellis wore one for a few games during his time with the Pacers, but it wasn’t until it came off that he got back to his normal self. Even Reggie Miller had to wear one back in the day and struggled, Coach Nate McMillan wore won when he played with the Seattle Supersonics and wasn’t a fan of the device, either.

Another new look for Myles Turner

The last “accessory” Myles added was a ponytail and it came nearly a month (and 11 games) ago when Indiana took down the Washington Wizards. But the ponytail has powers, it seems.

Turner is tied with Oladipo as the team’s leading scorer over the last 11 games, scoring 16.7 a game and his rebounding went up to 9 a game. On top of that, his shooting spiked to 55 percent from the field and 53.3 percent from deep.

The Pacers are 9-2 since Turner decided to pull back his hair. But will the mask have the same effect?

What should the Indiana Pacers expect from him?

It is more likely than not that Turner’s stats drop slightly, especially in his first game back. Even if Turner is confident in himself, he knows he hasn’t been hit in the face since Monday. (What did you expect? Bill Bayno to slap Turner with the pads a few time in practice?) It probably will take time for Turner to ease himself back into the game — and at least one hit.

But he shouldn’t have a major fall off over the long-term. In the past, the longest you could argue when Turner put together his best basketball it only lasted 5 to 10 games, of that. They were blips on an otherwise steady line of strong defense and so-so offense.

We’re now talking about 21 games of basketball, over a quarter of the season. The points and rebounds were earned by attacking the glass and simply being more confident when the ball was in his hands.

Those hesitations we saw in the past vanished in mid-November, and even when Oladipo returned to action, Myles numbers only improved. The ponytail only came one game before the All-Star guard’s return, so the numbers are nearly the same, with Turner scoring more points.

The elements keep changing around Turner, but for what is approaching two months now, Myles is playing like the player that he was expected to be.

Myles Turner might need a game or two to get comfortable with his injury, but there’s little reason to think Ponytail Myles won’t be fully operational soon.