Pacers' Myles Turner out indefinitely with partial toe tear

Pacers starting center Myles Turner will be out indefinitely after partially tearing the plantar plate in the great toe of his right foot, per a team announcement.

An MRI Monday shed light on the injury for Indiana. Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files tweets that, before returning to the court on Sunday, Turner had sat for the previous six games as he struggled with a left ankle sprain. Agness notes that this toe setback appears unrelated.

The 6-11 Turner, still just 24, had been enjoying a solid run with the Pacers for the 2020-21 season. In 47 games, he’s averaging 12.6 PPG, 6.5 RPG, an unreal 3.4 BPG, and 0.9 SPG. He boasts a shooting line of .477/.335/.782.

Losing their defensive anchor for any extended period of time is a major blow for the Pacers as they continue to fight for a play-in appearance. Indiana is currently the No. 9 seed in the East. At 26-30, the Pacers are currently two games behind the eighth-seeded Hornets and three games ahead of the 10th-seeded Raptors. With Turner absent, Indiana will lean on the kinds of small-ball lineups it employed during his earlier injury absence, with All-Star Domantas Sabonis moving to center and 6-6 forward Justin Holiday playing some power forward.

“Pain is temporary,” Turner said of his recovery in a Twitter message. “[I’m going to] attack this rehab and we right back to it!”

Jeff Stotts of Rotowire tweets that current Nets power forward Blake Griffin‘s 2016-17 playoff run with the Clippers came to an abrupt end when he suffered a similar ailment, eventually requiring corrective surgery.