Pacers Report Cards: Grading every Pacers player's overall playoff performance
By Mueez Azfar
Myles Turner
First Round Stats: 6 Games, 33.3 MPG, 19.2 PPG, 7.2 RPG, 2.8 APG, 0.5 SPG, 1.2 BPG, 0.5 TOV, 2.3 FPG 48.2/43.9/65.2 Splits on 60.4% TS
Second Round Stats: 7 Games, 31.6 MPG, 16.1 PPG, 6 RPG, 1.9 APG, 0.6 SPG, 2.3 BPG, 1.9 TOV, 2.4 FPG 53.8/48.3/78.9 Splits on 65.4% TS
Conference Finals Stats: 4 Games, 32.3 MPG, 15.3 PPG, 7 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.3 SPG, 0.5 BPG, 4.3 TOV, 3.3 FPG 54.8/43.8/100 Splits on 67% TS
Overall Stats: 17 Games, 32.4 MPG, 17 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 2.1 APG, 0.5 SPG, 1.5 BPG, 1.9 TOV, 2.6 FPG 51.7/45.3/76 Splits on 63.7% TS
It is no secret how much Myles Turner means to the Indiana Pacers organization. By far the longest-tenured Pacer, now in his ninth year, Turner was determined to make it past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in his career after five straight first-round exits followed by three years of missing the postseason. Additionally, Turner would finally get a taste of playoff basketball as the lone center, as he could finally have the paint to himself to operate down low.
The start of the Milwaukee series clearly showed that Myles Turner was not the same player from four years ago. With an extra chip on his shoulder and green light to shoot whenever possible, Turner averaged just over 24 points on 48% shooting and a scorching-hot 50% from deep in the first four games as well as just over eight rebounds, helping lead the Pacers to a 3-1 start over Milwaukee.
Unfortunately, Turner came back down to earth in the final two games, scoring 13 in game 5 and only five in Game 6, although Indiana still split those games and beat Milwaukee in six games for Myles Turner's first career playoff series win.
The second round brought two versions of Turner. In the first two games as well as Game 5, Turner looked unwilling to crash the boards and use his strength down low, averaging under five rebounds in said three games. While he did have some nice scoring outputs in these games, most notably his 23 points on 50% shooting to start the series, this was not the Myles Turner that needed to show up for Indiana to make the Conference Finals.
Instead, that version of Turner showed up in Games 3, 4, and especially 6 and 7. In these games, not only was Turner more shot-happy and willing to pull the trigger, but he was far more willing to box out and deny the ball from rebounders such as Isaiah Hartenstein and Precious Achiuwa.
This showed in the stats, as he averaged seven rebounds in the four Indiana wins compared to 4.6 in their three losses. Turner's aggressiveness on both sides was what Indiana needed to win the series, and he gave them just that.
As for the Conference Finals, this was where the two faces of Myles Turner returned. In Game 1, Turner seemed far more keen to step outside and hit threes as well as finish in the post, taking advantage of Kristaps Porzingis. The same went for Game 3 when he scored 22 points on mostly paint shots and grabbed 10 rebounds, matching his mark from Game 1.
However, Games 2 and 4 showed the worst of Myles Turner, as he was unwilling to go in the paint, take advantage of post mismatches, or even hold onto the ball and stay disciplined, as was shown by his four turnovers and five fouls. Once again, the rollercoaster of Myles Turner went for another loop, with this one having the most consequences.
This does not take anything away from Turner's overall playoff run, however. There is no denying that he looked like a star in certain games, getting to the basket at will, draining threes, and even grabbing rebounds when called upon. Unfortunately, for every 23/10 night, there was an 8/4 night, which was unfortunately what Turner's season ended on. However, it was fantastic to see the evident improvements Turner made to his game from the 2020 playoff run to now.