INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner has changed his offensive approach the last few years, and it has improved his effectiveness. While still being one of the better shooting big men in the league, Turner has refined his game near the basket to benefit his team.
In the last two seasons, the 27-year old has an average shot distance below 13 feet, which he previously hadn't done since 2016-17. The percentage of his shots that are two-point field goal attempts has gone up. Indiana is using Turner closer to the rim.
Against the Dallas Mavericks last night, that play style was at its best. Turner attempted five shots right around the rim, and he made all five. On top of that, he routinely used effective post positioning to draw a foul. That doesn't count as a shot attempt, but it's just as useful around the tin.
Turner crushed the Mavs defense with jumpers, too, but his paint pressure was immense, and it led to a season-best night. "He was putting pressure on the rim, both with rim runs and with rolls off pick-and-rolls," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said of Turner's outing. "Tyrese [Haliburton] is so good at hitting him at precisely the right moment that he's able to cause a lot of damage in there, cause a lot of problems."
The Mavericks were putting a ton of pressure on Haliburton when he would receive a ball screen, so it was up to other Pacers players to find open space and make decisions. Enter Turner, who seemed to make the right decision when it came to rolling to the rim or popping into space all night. Dallas' rookie center Dereck Lively II couldn't quite keep up with Indiana's attacks.
The visiting team frequently would send their low man down under the rim to contain Turner defensively when he would roll. That left a small guard on the Pacers starting center often. His job was to punish those matchups, and he did — sometimes with a basket, other times with a trip to the charity stripe.
"He's so versatile... He's a tough matchup for any team in the NBA," Pacers guard Ben Sheppard said of Turner. "We're all happy to play with a guy like Myles."
That structure, with Turner having space to operate on the inside and little pressure on jumpers, led to a big night. He scored a season-high 33 points — it was his first game with more than 30 points this campaign. It took him just 15 shots to get there, he was remarkably efficient.
He attempted 12 free throws, a season high by a mile. His previous best was eight, and the last time Turner attempted 12 free throws in a game was on January 25, 2021. He attempted 16 that night.
"I think the guys have been on me, making an emphasis just to get around the basket. I tried to just assert myself a little more there tonight," Turner said after the game. "I think the team needs me to be more of a presence down low."
That's all especially true against a team switching as often as Dallas, and it allowed Turner to crush his hometown Mavericks in this game. It helped that he mixed in several crucial jumpers that kept the defense honest. He's always been an effective mid-range shooter, and he was lights out from that distance Sunday night.
His three-point shot wasn't falling, but he was still able to create space for others from the mid post and from outside the paint. "Versatility of my game, I'm a three-level scorer," Turner said.
That does a lot for his teammates. Haliburton, who is among the best in the NBA at reading a defense, can assess a play and see if Turner is open in space or around the rim before punishing opponents with a perfect pass. "Just feel. It's just feel, it's just growing chemistry together," Haliburton said of his synergy with Turner after a screen.
During a game in which the Mavs were willing to live with a Turner mid-ranger for most of the night, he and Haliburton knew how to generate them. The nine-year veteran center is shooting 51.2% from 10-16 feet this season.
"I think that a team like Dallas, they were living with that shot. They were blitzing, trusting that they had the weak side rotation and living with the midrange two from Myles." Haliburton said. "He makes that at a consistent clip, so we just kept going at it the whole third quarter basically."
Haliburton thought that a center who could be a lob threat would be his ideal partner in the NBA. Richaun Holmes, his teammate during his rookie season, initially seemed to be the right archetype. Now, Haliburton can't imagine not playing with someone like Turner, who can both be a weapon around the basket and can also knock in jumpers.
Sunday night, that versatility from Turner made that partnership hum. "Tyrese is getting a lot of aggressive coverage on pick-and-rolls. So our rollers are really important because they're either going to have the shot or the rim attack, or they're going to make the next pass which is a key pass," Carlisle said after the game.
Turner made the right read all night. When he needed to shoot, he did. If there was space or a mismatch for him to attack the rim, he did just that. His decisions were almost always correct, and he knocked down the shots he was given. That all led to a season-best outing.
Turner attributed some of his success to being aggressive and being around the basket. Given how the Mavericks were defending him, that's where the veteran big man needed to be impactful. He was, and it led to a dominant Pacers win. As the Pacers look to extend their winning streak, Turner will look for more opportunities to be forceful in the paint.
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