Drafted in 2015 by the Pacers, Myles Turner will have waited before reaching a second round of playoffs. The international pivot will have had to wait until his ninth season, and his sixth “postseason” campaign…
“It’s been an incredible adventure for me, it’s the first time I’ve made it past the first round,” also recalls the pivot. “In high school, I never did it. Everyone here knows it. Same thing with Texas in the NCAA. I lost to Butler in the first round (of March Madness 2015) and my first years in the league consisted of a few Game 7s or sweeps.. »
This season also ended with a sweep, but in the conference final after the defeat against Boston. No one expected the Pacers to have such a celebration, especially since they did not have home field advantage against the Bucks, then against the Knicks. And despite the loss of their 6th man, Bennedict Mathurin, they did better than expected.
Patience rewarded
For Myles Turner, it is the reward for his loyalty, he who played with Paul George, Victor Oladipo or Domantas Sabonis… His franchise had been waiting for four years to return to the playoffs, and this return was thunderous!
“It’s taken me 28 years of my life to get to this point in the season,” repeats Myles Turner. “I couldn’t be more proud of this progression. The road was long but I was patient. From now on, I want to build on that. »
Same patience with TJ McConnell, who arrived at the Pacers in 2019. If, with the Sixers, he had already passed the playoff rounds, on the other hand, his experience with Indiana was limited to three ends of the match in the “bubble” in 2020 against the Heat. Four years later, he discovered the conference finals for the first time.
“I know I’m not just speaking for myself…. But it was really nice to come back to the playoffs with this franchise and make a run to the conference finals when no one thought we could do it… It was really nice to do it with this group and experience this kind of matches » concludes TJ McConnell
