Though the Indiana Pacers' paint defense showed signs of life in a 127-118 victory over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, the team still clearly misses the imposing presence of Myles Turner.
Turner jumped ship for the Pacers' bitter rival, the Milwaukee Bucks, after 10 seasons with the former franchise. And he signed a four-year, $108.8 million deal to star alongside Milwaukee's two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo in the frontcourt.
In the aftermath of his departure, the 2-14 Pacers have made the earth-shattering discovery that a frontcourt tandem of ex-Memphis Grizzlies floor-spacer Jay Huff and Isaiah Jackson will not replace Turner's penchant for deterring shots at the basket.
Despite their combined 12 blocked shots in the past two games against the Hornets and Cleveland Cavaliers, Huff and Jackson's efforts for the 2025-26 season as a whole have resulted in the Pacers' interior defense reaching devastating lows.
Throughout the terrible, no-good, very-bad beginning stages of life post-Turner, the Pacers are already facing a slew of issues regarding their ability to stop would-be attackers of the basket.
With that being said, it's still plausible to believe that the Pacers' backline defenders can bounce back and strike fear into opposing frontcourt scoring threats. Is it unlikely? Sure! Then again, Indiana's legendary run to the 2025 NBA Finals followed the same path (alright, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself just a bit).
Myles Turner left a restricted area-sized void behind upon joining Bucks
Following the Pacers' latest 120-109 defeat at the hands of the Cavaliers on Friday night, Indiana's net rating has leveled out to a No. 29-ranked -12.8 figure that has been shaped considerably by their 118.9 defensive rating, the league's sixth-worst mark.
To further connect the dots, their collective defensive rating is a direct result of Indiana's lack of resistance at the rim. Through 16 contests this season, the Pacers have allowed their opponents to connect on 68.1% of their field goal attempts from less than five feet away from the basket (per NBA.com Advanced Stats), another bottom-five figure.
Of course, this is a stark contrast from Turner's ability to limit makes at the basket. In fact, Indiana's Turner-led paint defense allowed opponents to knock down just 61.2% of their shots from that distance throughout his 10-year tenure with the team.
Turning things around from this point forward will surely be difficult, but it's easy to see how the Pacers' front office could have viewed Huff as the most suitable budget replacement and Jackson as a player worthy of stepping into an elevated role on both ends.
Unfortunately, neither has been able to routinely make an impact on winning, especially for Huff, whose defensive struggles have been paired with a putrid 50.0% true shooting percentage and 27.7% three-point percentage on 4.1 attempts.
As for Jackson, the 23-year-old has remained an efficient, but seldom-used offensive option, as he's contributing 7.9 points and 6.1 rebounds on 56.3% shooting from the field while only attempting 5.4 shots.