Indiana Pacers: It’s time for Myles Turner to close games

The Indiana Pacers pull off a two-game sweep down in Miami after a hard-fought overtime victory on Sunday afternoon. That game was not only massive for the Pacers but it once again showed the importance of Myles Turner on the defensive end.

Back-to-back wins against the Heat will certainly boost Indiana’s confidence and has done quite a bit to get them back into the playoff conversation. But Sunday’s win was not perfect.

Myles Turner has to be on the floor for the Indiana Pacers in big moments.

Nate Bjorkgren has made some interesting decisions over the last few months, his first months as a head coach. While the lineups have been tough to manage with so many injuries, Bjorkgren has to do a better job with getting his top guys on the floor in crunch time.

The Pacers entered the fourth quarter on Sunday with a nine-point lead and looked dialed in. However, Myles Turner was off the floor for basically the entire final quarter, sitting for 14 minutes straight as the lead slowly dwindled.

As Miami brought the game back to within one possession, Turner continued to sit on the bench in favor of T.J. McConnell. Turner would eventually return to the game with 12.2 seconds left and Jimmy Butler at the foul line in a tie game. Myles rebounded the miss and secured the final possession for Indiana which eventually put the game in overtime.

Myles was back on the bench to start the overtime period but was forced into action after Domantas Sabonis fouled out. Myles’ impact was immediately felt and he was a major factor in the win.

Turner came up with a huge defensive stand that resulted in two blocks and pushed the ball up the floor for a big basket on the other end. He was a force down low throughout overtime and on the afternoon, tallying five blocks for the second consecutive game.

I understand that playing two bigs is uncommon in today’s NBA but when they make up your best lineup, you have to get them on the floor.

This is not a Myles vs. Domas debate or even to say that Myles deserves playing time over Domas. They both need to be on the floor during the biggest moments of the game because both are incredibly valuable on both ends of the floor.