Myles Turner buries Marvin Williams with the block of the year
By Ben Gibson
Myles Turner put his name in the hat for the NBA’s block of the year when the Indiana Pacers center blocked Marvin Williams of the Charlotte Hornets.
Myles Turner is leading the NBA in his number of blocks, but he also added to the quality of those blocks when the Indiana Pacers center turned the paint into a no-fly zone.
Marvin Williams likely was imaging his own highlight in his head as he took to the air and loaded up for a potential monster dunk, but it was clear Turner wasn’t going to end up on the wrong end of a posterization.
Turner buried Williams with what might be the best block of the season not just for Myles, but in the NBA:
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1087130817430724608
Of course, reactions on Twitter soon poured in and in any language, it was clear Williams life had come to an end.
Part of the beauty of this play is it illustrates Turner’s value as a defender, as well as his knack for timing his jump to eliminate the ball-handler’s chances of dumping the ball off to another player.
On the play, Darren Collison is picked and tries chasing the ball to get back in the play. Unfortunately, that ends up forcing Thaddeus Young to rotate over — a little too zealously — to stop Williams.
With the lane clear, it looked like Williams had a chance for an easy dunk or even a contested one that he was likely to pick up a foul on.
But this is Myles Turner we are talking about. He knows how to block shots and already blocked 111 so far this season. His 112th, however, is one that won’t be forgotten quickly.
And on top of that, Turner then rebounded and tipped the ball up court, which potentially could have led to more points and the Hornets not committed a foul.
Myles wasn’t done with his highlights either. He then took a near-Steph Curry range 3-pointer.
I’m not sure what was better, the shot or the celebration.
Turner ended the first quarter a perfect 3 for 3 from beyond the arc to end the corner with 9 points and 6 rebounds.
It took a while for Turner to get in gear this season, but for the last two months, Myles has shown the NBA he is a force to be reckoned with on both sides of the ball.