INDIANAPOLIS — Myles Turner didn’t hesitate. As soon as the Indiana Pacers center caught the ball on the right wing, he launched a 3-pointer that was dead center. After the ball swished through the net, Turner turned to Indiana’s bench and roared. He’d had a terrible start to Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals Monday, but he was trying to right the ship early in the third quarter by draining his second 3-pointer in 52 seconds.
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The Pacers sunk anyway.
Derrick White’s corner 3-pointer with 45 seconds left lifted Boston to a 105-102 victory and into the NBA Finals, while simultaneously ending the Pacers’ deepest postseason run in a decade.
Aside from his six-point spurt in the third quarter, Turner had a rough night. He finished with just eight points and had more fouls (five) than rebounds (four). His shoving match with Jaylen Brown upped the ante with eight minutes left in the third quarter. Both players were assessed technical fouls, but it hardly mattered. Turner and Indiana were simply overmatched.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle later revealed that Turner, who wore a brace on the sideline whenever he wasn’t on the court, got hit in the back early in the game and gutted through the pain. Carlisle provided that information unprompted, perhaps trying to protect Turner from the criticism that would follow his season-ending dud.
But Turner doesn’t need protecting. He’s seen, heard and felt it all during his nine years with the Pacers, the only NBA franchise he’s ever known. Through so much turbulence and change, Turner – the longest-tenured Pacer – has been the one constant. He takes pride in having weathered the storm and wouldn’t allow a cloudy performance in the season finale to overshadow the brightest year of his career.
“This is the first time I’ve been out of the first round in my entire life,” Turner said. “The history is all there. You go back to high school when I was at Euless Trinity (in Texas), I didn’t get out the first round there. Everybody here obviously knows when I was at Texas, we lost to Butler in the first round. My first few years of my (pro) career, a couple Game 7s, a couple sweeps.
“It took me 28 years of my life to get to this point, and I just couldn’t be more proud.”
Turner has experienced seemingly every high and low in a Pacers jersey, all while serving as a bridge between eras and stars that never seemed to be able to get over the hump.
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There was Paul George, who after breaking his right tibia and fibula in July 2014, returned to his All-NBA form during Turner’s rookie season in 2015-16. However, George requested a trade in the summer of 2017 because he thought Indiana wasn’t ready to win big.
There was Victor Oladipo, who was acquired in a trade with Oklahoma City in exchange for George. Oladipo morphed into a franchise player the very next season, earning his first All-Star and All-NBA nod in 2018, before the injuries began to pile up and he became more irresolute. Oladipo was traded to the Rockets in January 2021.
There was Domantas Sabonis, who was also acquired from the Thunder in the George trade. He earned three All-Star selections in Indiana, but over time it became clear that whenever Sabonis and Turner shared the court, it was more clunky than imposing. Sabonis was traded to Sacramento in February 2022 in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton, the new face of the franchise and its biggest catalyst.
And finally, there was Deandre Ayton, who was supposed to be Turner’s replacement.
“It’s a rarity that one player is with an organization as long as I’ve been, so I definitely don’t take it for granted. I have a lot of love for the city, and I try to express it as much as I can,” Turner said before being more candid than he’s ever been about Indiana’s interest in Ayton. “But to be frank, I have dealt with a lot of bullsh— since I been here. Honestly, just battling sometimes with nonbelievers, having to deal with all of the trade rumors, having another big man signed right in front of my eyes.”
The Pacers signed Ayton, then a restricted free agent, to a four-year, $133 million max offer sheet in July 2022, only for Phoenix to match the offer a few hours later. Missing out on Ayton ensured Turner wouldn’t be traded, but at what cost? The Pacers’ decision to essentially dump Turner could’ve backfired if he decided to dump them, too.
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Instead, Turner used it as fuel and elevated his game.
“No matter what was thrown in front of me, I’m gonna continue to be the consummate professional and the man that I am,” Turner said. “It’s very easy to be like, ‘This happened, so I’m gonna give up,’ or, ‘They gave up on me, so I’m gonna give up on them.’ That’s not my M.O. It’s a job at the end of the day. It’s a dog-eat-dog world, too, so I just show up and do my job, and I just get better and better and better and better every year.”
Months after Indiana’s failed attempt to land Ayton, Turner thrived with Haliburton as his point guard and averaged career highs of 18.0 points and 7.5 rebounds, to go along with 2.3 blocks per game in 2022-23. The Pacers rewarded him with a two-year, $60 million extension in January 2023, and Turner has made it look like a smart investment ever since. Alongside Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, who was acquired in a January trade with Toronto, Turner carried his strong play over to 2023-24 en route to Indiana helping make its first conference finals appearance since 2014. Despite his lackluster showing Monday, Turner still averaged a playoff career-high 17.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 45.3 percent on 3-pointers in 17 games.
“I don’t give myself a lot of credit, but I’m definitely proud of myself for that, just the progression,” Turner said. “I’ve gotten my body where it needs to be, I’ve gotten my diet where it needs to be and I’ve gotten my circle where it needs to be just in my personal life. I just rededicated myself to my craft, and it’s shown over the last couple seasons. It’s only onwards and upwards from here.”
Turner, the No. 11 pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, isn’t a No. 1 or No. 2 option on a championship-caliber team. But after years of giving everything he can to Indiana, Carlisle believes the Pacers struck gold when they asked Turner to wear it.
Carlisle commended Turner for strengthening his body so he could play 94 of 99 possible games this year, the most he’s ever suited up for in his career after playing 89 games combined in 2020-21 and 2021-22 due to various injuries. Carlisle also praised Turner’s skill set and character, with backup point guard T.J. McConnell adding that the latter trait doubles as a North Star for a team on the rise.
“He’s been through trade rumors. He’s been through rebuilds. He’s been through it all,” said McConnell, who’s been teammates with Turner for the past five seasons. “But the professionalism he’s shown throughout (the hardships), there aren’t many like him on and off the court. … To have a guy like that here, among the other guys, and showing the young guys the way, it’s unbelievable.”
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Maybe if Turner’s back felt better Monday, his leadership would’ve had a more tangible impact on the game, though Boston’s influence can’t be overlooked. The Celtics’ defensive rating of 109.3 ranks third among the 16 playoff teams and No. 1 among the four conference finalists. So, in other words, Boston was simply better. A sweep emphatically confirmed that.
The Pacers will head into a pivotal offseason headlined by Siakam’s impending free agency. The two-time All-NBA forward spoke glowingly about his time so far in Indiana and players like Turner, who’ve made it feel like home. Turner will surely welcome Siakam back with open arms while gearing up for his 10th season with the Pacers.
But as Turner has learned over the years, even with Siakam back in the fold, change is still inevitable. He’ll gladly embrace it because for as successful as this season was, he isn’t interested in experiencing the same ending in the next one.
“It’s not gonna get any easier,” Turner said. “We introduced a style of play this year that people haven’t seen in a long time and a lot of people wanted to try to mimic. But the way this front office put this team together and orchestrated everything we have here was obviously masterful, and now we have to see how we get better.”
(Top photo: Nathaniel S. Butler / NBAE via Getty Images)
James Boyd is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the Indianapolis Colts. Before joining The Athletic, James was the Indiana Pacers beat writer for The Indianapolis Star. James is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and grew up in Romeoville, Illinois. Follow James on Twitter @romeovillekid
