Myles Turner has cemented his status as an Indiana Pacers legend these playoffs

Myles Turner has waited four years for the Pacers to return to the playoffs, and he is making every moment count.

Going into the playoffs, Myles Turner had a point to prove. For years, Turner was seen as a source of untapped and unrealized potential, always staying a reliable hand but never breaking out as a top scoring option. That has changed in recent years. Ever since Domantas Sabonis got traded to the Kings, Turner has stepped up beautifully as the sole center, averaging close to 18 points and eight rebounds ever since the trade. However, the critics remained.

For Turner, it was a battle of fighting one criticism after another. After years of being called soft and overrated on defense, the 2024 playoffs opened an opportunity for him to prove everyone wrong on the big stage. After all, with this being the first bout of meaningful basketball he played since the 2020 NBA playoffs in the Orlando bubble, Turner certainly had motivation to have a great playoffs.

Currently, Myles Turner has blown every single expectation out of the water. In four games, Turner has averaged 24 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and 1.5 blocks on 48.6% from the field and a spectacular 50% from deep. Turner has been nothing short of a menace in the frontcourt, pairing up with Pascal Siakam to average 50.1 points and 18.8 rebounds between the two.

Game 4 was perhaps Turner's best performance. In a must-win game to clinch a 3-1 series advantage, Turner scored 29 points, hauled in nine rebounds, dished out four assists, and rejected three shots to help Indiana get the 126-113 win against a depleated Milwaukee Bucks team.

Turner's seven three-pointers was also a new career-high in any game of his NBA career, regular season or playoffs. Speaking of three-pointers, Turner had the crowd eating out of his hands near the end of the game, as a 'Myles Turner' chant was answered with another three by the big man and another crowd eruption.

In addition to the threes, Turner gave the Pacers exactly what the fans wanted, a thunderous poster dunk and the first of its kind for Indy in the playoffs. Older fans may remember Turner's dunk on Gordon Hayward during Game 4 of the 2019 first round against Boston.

While that dunk was ultimately forgotten due to the Celtics completing the sweep, this one-handed tomahawk over Brook Lopez will be remembered for a long time coming, especially if Indiana holds on to win the series.

With Indiana finishing its two-game playoff home run with two straight wins, Turner's request for the crowd to scream their heads off was certainly heard, as he acknowledged in an interview following the game. Additionally, Turner was clearly feeling the chants during the game, as he got quite into it himself.

Indiana now has three straight chances to put the series away, as one win will lead to them advancing to the second round for the first time since 2014. Now, all the Pacers need to do is hold on and pull away.