Myles Turner playing the best basketball of his career for Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner was born in Bedford, Texas, a suburb sandwiched between Dallas and Fort Worth. Last night, in his yearly NBA return to his home area, he dropped in 24 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and blocked four shots as the Pacers took down the Mavericks.
Turner did a little bit of everything as he shot 10/13 from the field. He posted up Justin Holiday, Maxi Kleber, and Christian Wood, and he scored with ease over all three. He scored three times as the roll man in the pick-and-roll, mixing in dunks and mid range jumpers. He buried a hook shot and a three pointer. He had a varied offensive approach as Dallas struggled to slow him down.
"It’s more so about the win, but obviously whenever I come back home I want to put on for my people," Turner said after the game, per quotes provided by the Mavericks. "I had a lot of people come and support. Bedford is where I’m from – small area but everybody that comes shows love. It’s great to get a dub, especially in your home state."
The outing marked Turner's third straight 20-point game. He scored 20+ points seven times in February, an impressive feat given how few games are played in the shorter month that also contains the All-Star break.
In the end, Turner averaged 21.4 points per game in the month, the most he has averaged in any month of his career. It's just the ninth time he has cracked 15 points per game for an entire calendar month in which he played at least 10 games, and just the fourth time he exceeded 17 points per game in a month.
His February numbers are buoyed by a ridiculous 40-point masterpiece against the Boston Celtics, but Turner's consistency still stands out. Reaching 20+ points in a game in 70% of a player's appearances in a month is impressive.
The three highest scoring months of Turner's entire time in the pros have come in 2022-23, he reached over 18 points per game in the full months of November, January, and February. The only other time he eclipsed 17 points per game in a month that he played over 10 games was January of 2017, his second season in the league. Turner's scoring growth in his eighth campaign has been as impressive, and it was unforeseeable.
January and February of 2023 being the highest scoring two months of Turner's career, and them happening consecutively, make it clear that the 26-year old is currently in the best offensive stretch of his life. Looking back through his historical numbers makes it clear: it isn't close. His more varied and refined game has made Turner a weapon on the offensive end.
"We've seen him even play some of his best basketball this year," Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said earlier this season. "I still think his best is still to come."
So far in the calendar year 2023, the big man is averaging 20.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks per game. He has knocked down 55% of his shots and 39.6% of his threes. The Pacers lost all four games in that span in which Turner did not play. He has been playing extremely well, and he's providing a massive boost to his team at the same time.
Turner has scored 20+ points in 10 of his last 14 outings and 25+ in six of his last 23 appearances. That means, since New Year's Eve, Turner has scored 25 or more points in more than 25% of Indiana's battles. He's been terrific on offense in 2023.
March is a new month, and Turner will look to keep the momentum going. As he alluded to, it's all about the wins for he and the team right now more so than individual stats, and head coach Rick Carlisle alluded to a similar sentiment earlier this season.
The veteran big man's offensive output has certainly helped the team win, and for that reason, he will look to keep terrorizing opponents. And with the Pacers just two games out of the play-in tournament with 19 games to go, Turner's career-best stretch is critical to the Pacers stretch run.
- Myles Turner shows off improved offensive skills with a 40-point game vs Boston Celtics. CLICK HERE.
- Buddy Hield sets the Indiana Pacers franchise record for three pointers made in a single season. CLICK HERE.
- AllPacers goes one-on-one with new Indiana Pacers forward Jordan Nwora, CLICK HERE, and guard Trevelin Queen. CLICK HERE.
- Malcolm Brogdon returns to Indiana with fond memories of his Pacers tenure. CLICK HERE.
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