More confident and mature Myles Turner giving Indiana Pacers great minutes to begin season

Turner is averaging career-best per-minute numbers

In the last two weeks, Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner has had two monster fourth quarters that show the growth that the veteran big man has in his confidence and maturity.

The first of the two came earlier this month in Philadelphia. The Pacers were battling the 76ers for In-Season Tournament action, and Turner was struggling. At halftime, he had played for under seven minutes due to foul trouble, and he had just two points and one rebound on 1/4 shooting at that point. Philly, and specifically Joel Embiid, has always been a matchup that Turner has struggled with.

A quick third quarter foul limited the big man's playing time even further. He still hadn't reached 10 minutes of play after three frames, and the 76ers trailed by just one point entering the final period. Indiana needed everyone at their best to hold off the Eastern Conference giants.

Turner stepped up in a major way. He played for nearly the entire quarter — he fouled out with just 32 seconds remaining — and was terrific for the entirety of winning time. He finished the frame with 15 points, two rebounds, and a block, and he got to the free throw line seven times. That kept the momentum with Indiana as they held on for a six-point win.

"Just maturity, just being around this league. Four quarters of basketball, and just allowed myself to go out there and finish the game. Positive mindset," Turner said of what sparked his fourth quarter masterpiece. He was fueled by a desire to win against the team that, at the time, had the best record in the East. "We knew it was an important game."

Embiid has given Turner fits before, but in the fourth quarter on this night, the former MVP was 2/6 from the field while Turner matched him on the boards. For the night, Embiid was 3/8 when defended by Indiana's starting big man according to the league's matchup data.

When the Pacers needed Turner most, he gave them great minutes, and against a team he has struggled against historically. "Kryptonite is a tough way to look at it," he said when asked about overcoming a slow start against the 76ers. "I think that it's one of those games where it's a little bit tough for me. Spent a lot of time in foul trouble. It just meant everything to get the win."

The environment of the game was tough. It was an In-Season Tournament outing, which added meaning to the game. Philly beat Indiana just two nights earlier, so the blue and gold were hoping to avoid the sweep. Fans were letting Turner hear it all night, and he noted that he couldn't repeat what was said to him during the game. It was an intense atmosphere.

Turner jokingly shared that if he was younger, he may have flipped off the crowd — something a younger Turner did in Philadelphia back in 2018. He was fined $15,000 for the gesture at the time.

Now, though, Turner is more mature and confident. He can take it from a crowd and start a game slowly, but he will recover. That wasn't always the case for the 27-year old before this season. He's clearly grown in that way.

"Yeah, I think it's just carrying over some of the stats from last season," Turner said of playing with more confidence. "Trying to improve on it, that's the goal."

The Pacers outscored the 76ers by four points with Turner on the floor in that fourth quarter. He was vital in a six-point win.

"We just keep playing. We keep playing, we keep executing... in Myles' case the other night, he got taken out of it early with fouls," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of Turner and the victory. "Doesn't mean there's not 12 minutes in the last quarter to keep playing. So he did and a lot of great things happened."

Two nights ago, Turner repeated the performance. The Detroit Pistons were in Indianapolis for, ironically, another In-Season Tournament outing. Indiana struggled to get an advantage against the developing Pistons and led by just one point through three quarters.

Turner wasn't dealing with foul trouble this time, but his impact wasn't at the level it needed to be. The Pacers big man had nine points and zero rebounds at halftime, and his statline was 13 points and three boards entering winning time. That's a fine-enough scoring output, but Indiana's veteran center needed to step up on the glass and on defense.

Once again, he did. In the final quarter, in which Turner played for 10:14, the Pacers big man had 10 points on 5/7 shooting, seven rebounds (four on the offensive end), two assists, one steal, and two blocks. He was sensational, and the blue and gold won his minutes by an eye-poppin 26 points in the frame. Turner pushed his team over the finish line in a win.

"I was mad, bro. I was pissed," Turner said of his leadup to the final quarter. "Once I got out there, I just told myself to go. It was kind of the same thing it was in Philly."

The two games were eerily similar, though the nine-year veteran was much better for the first three frames against Detroit than he was against Philadelphia. In both outings, he rose to the occasion in the final minutes to lead his team to victory.

That's what leaders do, and Turner stepped up when it mattered. "Myles is a good player. He had a career year last year, and he's off to a great start this year," Carlisle said. "He just needs to do his job. He needs to run the floor, he needs to be on the rim, he needs to crash when it's his job to crash."

The head coach added that it's important for Turner to not hesitate or think twice on open shots. He just needs to let them fly. During Turner's whole career — that's when he has been at his best. When he's confident enough to shoot when he's open, he looks great.

"Just go out there and just perform," Turner said when asked what he needs to do to carry his confidence forward. Having no offseason distractions helped the big man have a good foundation to open the season.

He's used that situation to bounce into a big ninth year so far. Turner is averaging career-best numbers in points and rebounds per-36 minutes. His impact has been strong this season, and he showed his peak during two important fourth quarters in Philadelphia and at home against Detroit.

"His work ethic. It's always been there, but I can tell he's definitely locking in more on it. Every day after practice, he's in here working," young center Isaiah Jackson said of Turner's off-court growth. A more mature and more confident Turner is giving the Pacers what they need.

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