Indiana Pacers' Myles Turner Posts Ridiculous Line in Loss to Boston Celtics

Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner had the game of his life against the Boston Celtics on Thursday night, but it was all for naught. The veteran scored a career-high 40 points in a 142-138 overtime loss, adding 10 rebounds, two assists, and a block.

Myles Turner lit it up with a career-high 8 threes on 80% shooting from beyond the arc last night.🎯

"You got to love it for the big fella, having a heck of a year." pic.twitter.com/BTGaP1LH7D
— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) February 24, 2023

It was an incredibly efficient night for the big man. Turner hit a positively ridiculous 13 of his 15 field goal attempts, including eight of 10 from three. He also hit six of his seven free throws. Given his season so far, it was a wild outlier performance; he's averaging 18.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game with a solid .656 true shooting percentage, but he's only managed four games with 30 or more points in his 51 appearances.

The Pacers are 26-35 and 12th in the Eastern Conference and don't have a particularly realistic shot of getting into the play-in tournament, never mind making a run in the playoffs. Barring a relatively late career leap from Turner or the emergence of Tyrese Haliburton into a viable superstar, the Pacers lack a clear path toward genuine contention. They'll need to make incremental progress by hitting on draft picks and mid-level transactions for years to come.

The Pacers face the Orlando Magic on Saturday night.