With his team up 2-0 on the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed, the Indiana Pacers are close to a big upset series win in the conference semifinals, and former Texas Longhorns star Myles Turner is enjoying himself while leading his team along the way.
In a press conference following the Pacers’ thrilling Game 2 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the NBA Playoffs, Turner explained what he’s feeling at this phase of his career.
“This is the most fun I’ve had playing basketball ever, honestly,” Turner said. “This group is special. I don’t want to stop playing anytime soon. So we are just going to continue getting better and better, drowning out the noise.”
Turner is the longest-standing Pacer on the current roster. He was drafted by the organization with the 11th overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft after earning Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors in his one-and-done year as a Longhorn.
In Game 2 of this series, Turner led Indiana in scoring, recording 23 points on 8 for 17 shooting. He added five blocks and eight rebounds, also having the best plus/minus in the game at +15.
While the Pacers are in a great position heading back to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for Game 3 on Friday night, the Texas alum knows that his team still has much work to do in this series before saying the Cavaliers are behind them. They have to stay relentless rather than get complacent.
“It’s easy to feel good for ourselves, be happy and what not, butter ourselves up,” Turner said. “We already know the media is going to start talking about us now. Everybody has been doubting us, but all of a sudden it’s, ‘Oh, Pacers this.’ We drown out that noise. We continue to work, keep our heads down, and take these two days and get ourselves right.”
Turner’s big-man matchup against the Cavaliers is fellow former Longhorn Jarrett Allen. The centers have been showing out against one another, paralleling each other’s performances to an extent so far. Their duel will continue to be an important factor to the series as it gets further along.
With Turner on the roster, the Pacers have only made the conference finals once — in the 2023-24 season when they were swept by the Boston Celtics. An impressive series win over the Cavaliers would return Indiana to that stage and propel them into close contention for their first NBA Championship in team history.
