Insider: Myles Turner's blocks record part of a night to celebrate for Pacers’ defense
SAN FRANCISCO -- Myles Turner held aloft a bottle of presumably expensive whiskey while his All-Star teammates Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam doused him with all the water they had. He feigned like he was parrying their blows with his forearms until he was handed another gift, a plate of cookies, some iced to replicate his jersey with his name and number and others with the words "Blocks Leader."
That scene -- captured by the Pacers' digital media team and shared on their social media accounts -- was just the beginning of the Pacers' celebration of Turner, who recorded five blocks in the Pacers' 123-111 win over the Warriors on Friday night in the Chase Center to break Jermaine O'Neal's franchise record for career blocked shots. Turner entered the day needing just two blocks to tie O'Neal's career mark of 1,245 and he got those in the first half, then grabbed three more to take over the record himself and end the day with 1,248.
Pacers score: Tyrese Haliburton, Pascal Siakam and defense lead Pacers to win over Golden State
Pacers news: Myles Turner breaks Jermaine O'Neal's franchise career blocks record
The locker room was still buoyant when the media was allowed in for interviews -- perhaps in part because of the consumption of some of that bottle's contents -- but also because of the across-the-board respect for Turner's accomplishment. He is now, by far, the longest-tenured member of the Pacers, having spent all nine of his professional seasons with the Pacers since he was drafted out of Texas in 2015, but he doesn't turn 28 years old until Sunday and has a chance to move that mark far beyond where O'Neal put it.
"I'm really happy for him," Haliburton said. "He's the best shot-blocker in this franchise's history. You don't see many guys who stay with one franchise their whole career. I think that's very possible, very probable for him. It just fits. I think he is who the Indiana Pacers have been for years. I'm just really, really happy for him. I hope I'm alongside him for a lot more blocks and that he makes that record really hard to get."
Turner was admittedly emotional after the game saying on the Bally Sports broadcast, "I'm not going to cry or nothing," but it clearly struck him that he has now made a mark on the Pacers' franchise with permanence. After several years in which his name was constantly part of trade rumors prior to signing a contract extension in January of 2023, he has assured that his name will be connected to the franchise long after he's moved on, whether he eventually changes teams or retires with the organization.
"It's definitely an emotional feeling just being here as long as I have," Turner said. "Just going through everything I've been through. It's amazing I can leave with something, no matter what happens in the future. I can tell my kids about this moment, my grandkids."
It's a more fun story to tell, of course, because it happened not only on a night when the Pacers won, but a night when they could not only celebrate Turner's career defensive accomplishment, but the growth of a Pacers defense that was not long ago one of the league's worst. Indiana's progress on that end gives them reason for hope as they head into the season's final 11 games with a 40-31 record, which for now gives them a 1 1/2 game lead on Philadelphia and Miami for the critical sixth spot in the Eastern Conference. The Pacers paired one of their most inspired defensive efforts of the season with one of their best shooting night's since the All-Star break and produced one of their most complete overall efforts of the season against a team two years removed from a championship and not long removed from a dynasty.
Friday night's game seemed headed for a shootout early, something reminiscent of many of the Pacers' early-season wins. The teams were tied at 38 after the first period and Golden State had a 67-66 lead at the break when their two all-time great shooters Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson having already scored 15 points each with a combined six 3-pointers.
The Pacers seemed game to try to run with Golden State with their two All-Stars performing at a high level. Haliburton already had 11 points and eight assists at the break with three 3-pointers, hitting back-to-back 3s at one point and also a drilling a 33-footer at the halftime buzzer, at least for the moment breaking out of a 3-point shooting slump that had consumed much of the post All-Star break period. Siakam, meanwhile, had 13 points and the Warriors seemed to have an answer for him when he got the ball near the paint.
But the Pacers are a different team than they were when the season began. They have a little less offensive firepower but a lot more defensive presence. They made a decision at halftime to try win with defense, and they actually pulled it off against a Warriors team that still boasts a top-10 offense even with aging superstars.
"We had to bring our attitude up," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "We had to bring a defiance to how we were playing defensively."
The defiance started with guard Andrew Nembhard, who drew the primary assignment of guarding Curry. The best shooter in NBA history hasn't gotten any easier to guard at age 36 as he never stops moving, forcing his defender to navigate screens all over the court and needing just the tiniest bit of space to knock down 3s from seemingly impossible angles and distances.
However, Nembhard refused to surrender to the inevitability of Curry, who scored 42 points with 11 3-pointers when the two teams met in February at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Curry seemed to be on track for a similar night when he hit 5 of 6 first-quarter field goals and 3 of 4 first-quarter 3-pointers, but he made just 4 of 18 field goals, including 3 of 14 3-pointers the rest of the way. Curry still scored 25 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out five assists, but he had to take 24 shots to get there.
"It's not easy," Nembhard said. "It's tiring. He definitely moves a lot off the ball and never lets you rest. He's going to make shots regardless of how tough you make it. It's one of those things you have to keep yourself in it even when he hits shots on you."
Forward Aaron Nesmith and others kept themselves in it after Thompson got going early. Thompson went 0 of 5 from the field in the second half after going 6 of 10 with three 3-pointers in the first half. They also never let young phenomenal forward Jonathan Kuminga get going, as he scored just 11 points on 4 of 17 shooting.
The Pacers grabbed control of the game with a 36-21 third quarter in which they held the Warriors to 8 of 26 shooting, including 3 of 13 from 3-point range. They also held them to 23 points on 9 of 24 shooting in the fourth, including 1 of 10 from the 3-point arc, as Golden State went 17 of 50 from the floor and 4 of 23 from 3 in the second half for just 44 points.
"They got hot early and I think we did a good job of becoming more physical," Nesmith said. "The referees allowed us to get into them more and make their lives harder. I thought we did a good job of taking advantage of that."
The Pacers have talked about becoming more physical, especially in terms of their perimeter defense since the season began. While their offense has faced some struggles, that emphasis seems to have finally taken hold since the All-Star break. That is, as Nesmith mentioned, in part because they've taken advantage of officials who have been collectively more permissive to defensive physicality across the league, but they’ve also been more sturdy in general and that’s led to drastically better defensive outcomes.
The Pacers have spent most of the season ranked near the bottom of the league in the most important defensive categories and they still rank 25th overall in defensive rating and 28th in points allowed per game, giving up 120.5 per game on the season. However, in their last eight games, they’ve surrendered more than 111 points in just one game. In that stretch they rank 13th in the NBA in points allowed with 109.4 per game and fourth in defensive rating, surrendering just 107.1 points per 100 possessions, well under their season average of 117.6. Teams are shooting just 44.0% from the field against them in that stretch, which is the second-best figure in the NBA.
“It’s a credit to the coaching staff,” Turner said. “I think they really switched out our mentality. We know we can score. We can do a lot of stuff with Tyrese. But our coaching staff has put a real emphasis on our defense and our group as a whole has done a great job of responding.”
And now their defense is something the Pacers finally believe they can rely on. They’ve struggled all year to find any level of consistency with just one losing streak longer than three games, but if the defense stays on its current track and their offense doesn’t fade too far, holding on to the sixth spot in the East becomes a much more realistic proposition.
“I’ve said before, if we continue to go at this pace, the way we play offense, no one can keep up with us over 48 minutes,” Nesmith said. “We just have to keep building. Myles got the all-time block lead. He’s our anchor. He’s going to keep lead us on that side of the floor and we’re gonna be good.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Myles Turner sets blocks record as Pacers’ defense shines in win
