Pacers' perfect pairing: Turner, Haliburton form dominant 1-2 punch

Now in his eighth season with the Indiana Pacers, Myles Turneris easily the team’s longest-tenured player. In fact, no otherPacer on the current roster has been in town longer than fourseasons.

Turner arrived in Indiana as a wide-eyed teenager who wasselected with the No. 11 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. In theyears that followed, Turner would watch as the team continuallychanged around him. He has played for four different head coaches —Frank Vogel, Nate McMillan, Nate Bjorkgren and Rick Carlisle — andwitnessed a ton of roster turnover. But despite Turner’s namesurfacing in trade rumors annually, he has been the one constant inIndiana.

As a rookie, Turner suited up alongside stars like Paul Georgeand Monta Ellis. During his sophomore campaign, he called AlJefferson, Thaddeus Young, Jeff Teague and Lance Stephensonteammates. The following year, Victor Oladipo, Domantas Sabonis,Bojan Bogdanovic and Darren Collison joined the squad. Turner hasalso played with veterans such as Tyreke Evans, Ty Lawson, RodneyStuckey, Caris LeVert, Doug McDermott, T.J. Warren and C.J. Milesover the years.

However, one could argue that no teammate has had a greaterimpact on Turner’s game than his current star running mate: TyreseHaliburton.

When the Pacers acquired Haliburton from theSacramento Kings prior to last year’s trade deadline, Turnerwas ecstatic. He was a fan of Haliburton’s game and potential, andcouldn’t wait to team up with the pass-first point guard.Unfortunately, Turner wasn’t able to play alongside Haliburton inthe second half of last season due to a stress reaction in hisfoot.

This year, the Pacers’ one-two punch of Haliburton and Turnerhas been on full display, and they have become one of the mostproductive pick-and-roll duos in the NBA.

pretty.😍Tyrese Haliburton to Myles Turner for two. pic.twitter.com/TupiSM909t

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) February 26, 2023

Turner has set 814 picks for Haliburton, which is the third-mostof any pick-and-roll duo in the league, per Second Spectrum. Theonly tandems who have run the pick-and-roll more are Philadelphia’sJames Harden and Joel Embiid (893 picks) and Phoenix’s Chris Pauland Deandre Ayton (897). Possessions featuring a Haliburton-Turnerpick-and-roll have generated 1.063 points per possession — thefifth-best PPP of the 24 duos with at least 500 picks.

“This has been a wonderful opportunity for Myles to play with aplaymaking guard of Tyrese’s caliber,” Pacers head coach RickCarlisle told Basketball News. “A couple weeks ago, we checked andthey were top-five or top-six in the league as a successfulpick-and-roll connection, and that’s pretty amazing. Myles isgetting all different kinds of stuff — he’s getting rolls fordunks, he's getting a little bit of mid-range, he's getting goodlooks for threes and he's getting some late passes underneath fordunks as well.

"I just love the force that he’s playing with. Tyrese has had awonderful impact on Myles and certainly the rest of the team, butthe connection those two guys have has been special.”

The partnership has been mutually beneficial. Turner gets easylooks from an elite floor general who ranks second among allplayers in assists per game (10.2) and assist percentage (46.9%),while Haliburton gets a unique big-man partner who can score inside(62.8% on twos) and out (40.3% on threes). It’s no coincidence thatboth players are having career years.

Turner is averaging career-highs in points (18.2), rebounds(8.0), field-goal percentage (54.9%), three-point percentage(40.3%) and made threes (1.7), while also contributing 2.3 blocks,1.4 deflections and 0.6 steals per game. Turner's dominance showsup in his analytics too, as he's posting personal bests in winshares per 48 minutes (.157), Box Plus/Minus (+2.6), True Shootingpercentage (65.8%), Player Efficiency Rating (20.6) and totalrebound rate (14.7%).

“Myles has blossomed this year. We've seen the relationship withhim and Ty; they're one of the best pick-and-roll [duos] in theleague right now,” Pacers president of basketball operations KevinPritchard said recently. “This is the beginning of a nice core —no, a great core.”

Meanwhile, Haliburton became a first-time All-Star after averagingcareer-highs in points (20.1), assists (10.1) and threes (2.8),while also contributing 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest.Haliburton is also posting personal bests in advanced stats likeassist percentage (46.9%), PER (23.0), VORP (3.8), BPM (+6.9) andWS/48 (.189).

“It was unfortunate that I didn’t get a chance to play with himlast year and really start to develop that synergy, but I thinkwe’ve really picked it up quickly,” Turner told Basketball News.“Ty is someone who’s easy to play with. Obviously, he sees thefloor well. And as the season has progressed, we’ve done a betterjob of communicating with each other. It’s been a funexperience.”

Despite the fact that they’ve only played 44 games together,they have developed a strong connection and can often anticipateeach other’s next move.

“I think I know what he’s going to do before he does it in asense,” Turner said. “I think that just comes with playing withhim.”

this sequence.🔥a huge block by Myles Turner followed by a huge dunk by TyreseHaliburton.👀 pic.twitter.com/4MpAf4Kp0B

— Indiana Pacers (@Pacers) March 1, 2023

“We just needed time together, that’s all,” Haliburton toldBasketball News. “I feel like I’ve had pretty good chemistry withmy bigs throughout my NBA career, and I knew that playing withMyles wasn’t going to be any different. He brings a differentdynamic than what I’m used to, with his ability to space the floor.And he’s the best shot-blocker that I’ve ever played with, so thatgives me confidence on the defensive end to be able to take morerisks and get into the ball a little bit more.

"I think it’s a mutual relationship where he’s got my back andI’ve got his.”

Not too long ago, Turner’s days in Indiana seemed numbered.After all, the team traded away nearly all of its veterans lastseason (including Sabonis, LeVert, Torrey Craig, Justin Holiday andJeremy Lamb), and Turner’s name continued to pop up in traderumors. However, since Turner is only 26 years old, the Pacers’brass felt that he could be on a similar timeline as Haliburton,who is 23.

It certainly seems that the Pacers are building around this duo,especially after Turner was given a two-year, $60 million extensionin January.

“I’m glad that we got it done. I think it was a win-win for bothsides,” Turner said. “I think I have a good relationship with(Pacers owner) Herb Simon, and I think he has a big belief in whatI’m capable of as well. I’m glad that we were able to come to termson an agreement. Behind the scenes, for me personally, I was opento the idea of free agency, but I also wanted to at least give Indya fair chance, and both sides came to an agreement.

“I’m comfortable. I’m where I want to be. I’m growing with ayoung team that’s hungry. I think we’re just trying to get betterand better every day, and that’s the main goal of this whole thing.I have a lot of belief in this city, a lot of belief in thisprogram and a lot of belief in the guys in this locker room, sothat was a big initial factor in me wanting to stay here.”

Since Turner was a popular trade candidate, many fans of otherteams got excited about the possibility of him joining theirfavorite squad. When Turner inked his extension with the Pacers,some of these fans reacted negatively — upset that he was no longeron the market.

“What fans don’t realize is that this is a business, and bothsides have to do what’s best for them,” Turner said. “Sometimes itdoesn’t work out where you’re able to stay with the same team, butI’ve been blessed and fortunate enough to be with the same team formy entire career. That’s not something that happens a lot, and Inever take that for granted. That was obviously something that wentinto my decision as well. For the casual fan, they have to realizethat while basketball may be a fun game, the business aspect of itwill always reign supreme.”

As Turner mentioned, not many players stay with one NBA team forthe entirety of their career. He admits that retiring in Indianawould mean a lot to him.

“Yeah, obviously, it’s something that would be very special,”Turner said. “Like I always talk about, the business of basketballalways reigns supreme, but my loyalty is with the organization thatdrafted me and the city that took me in, and hopefully it’s able tostay that way for years to come.”

Turner has been a part of many different iterations of Pacersbasketball. Now, looking at the current pieces around him, he’sexcited about the team’s promising future.

“I’ve seen the growth in a lot of our young guys throughout theentire year,” Turner said. “The best thing for them was getting achance to play early. For Drew [Nembhard], Ben [Mathurin]and those guys, playing heavy minutes early was big for theirdevelopment, and not every rookie has a chance to do that. The factthat they’re getting battle-tested so early is going to bode wellfor them.

"I’ve just enjoyed the overall spirit and fight of this team.We’ve got a lot of guys who clock in and work hard day in and dayout, and they’re coming in here and getting a chance to competeafter working their whole life to get here.”

While playing alongside Haliburton has certainly helped Turner,the big man does deserve a lot of credit for the leap he has takenthis season. He’s put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes tomaximize his potential and make the most of his opportunity.

“I attribute [my career year] to patience and obviously the hardwork I put in over the offseason to prepare for these moments,”Turner explained. “I also attribute it to just the years that I’vebeen in the league, where I’ve been able to play out on theperimeter at the 4 position and now I’m able to play my naturalposition (the 5).

"I’m thankful that I was able to just stick it out those yearsthat I was here and see what the other side of basketball was like,outside of just getting what you want when you want it. I think Iwaited my turn and, obviously, I’m thriving now, and I’m onlyhoping to get better from here.”

Nekias Duncan contributed to this article.