Indiana Pacers: Two players trending up prior to hiatus hitting

Myles Turner and T.J. Warren were trending up before the Pacers season halted

It’s been nearly a month since the NBA was forced to put the NBA season on hold for the Indiana Pacers and all 30 teams in the league due to the ongoing situation with COVID-19.

Though it does appear that the NBA may try to salvage the season in some way shape or form, there’s a good chance that the season may unexpectedly have ended in mid-March with no resolution.

Because of this, many players who were surging upward in February and March may have had their strong run of performances cut short.

Two players, in particular, were on the upward climb for the Pacers as the season unexpectedly closed. It’s a shame that we won’t get to see the culmination of their increased efforts and how it leads the Pacers into the playoffs this season.

T.J. Warren was capping out his stellar year with more great play

T.J. Warren hasn’t necessarily had a breakout year, but it sure has been his most complete year yet. Warren has spent most of his career piecing together various parts of his game, and this season he showed us how it all looks once it’s put together.

Warren came to the Pacers via a trade on draft day in 2019 where the Pacers fleeced the Phoenix Suns. Since then, Warren has been a muli-level scorer with better defense than most people thought he had in his bag.

Prior to the season going on hiatus, Warren was capitalizing his best year yet with the best stretch of the year.

Prior to the All-Star break Warren was averaging 18.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game. Since returning from the break, Warren is averaging 19.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. He’s been shooting a tad better from beyond the 3-point arc, but his most impressive shooting display is at the free-throw line where he’s hit 17 of his 18 attempted free-throws since the All-Star break ended.

Myles Turner was showing more aggression on the boards after NBA trade deadline

Myles Turner was frequently mentioned in trade rumors leading up to February’s NBA trade deadline. While we can’t necessarily prove that being the reason for his diminished play before the deadline, it certainly helps mentally to know that you will be staying with your team through the end of the year.

Prior to the deadline, Turner averaged 11.9 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 34.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Since the trade deadline passed, Turner is averaging 11.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 1.0 assists per game.

Though only his rebounding numbers have improved, rebounding is often a good measuring stick for how much effort a frontcourt player is putting in. The Pacers, who ranked 26th in the league for rebounds prior to the deadline, rank 16th since the deadline with 43.9. The increase over their rebounds per game prior to the deadline is 1.4, meaning Turner’s increase of 2.1 has helped the team shoot up the these leaderboards since the deadline.

Thankfully, Turner is finding ways to stay prepared despite being homebound.