WATCH: Pacers’ Myles Turner Posterizes Gordon Hayward With Ferocious Dunk

Myles Turner is out here catching bodies on Easter Sunday no less. Poor Gordon Hayward didn’t stand a chance and got absolutely slapped on a poster here as the Pacers would use the play to go on a run heading into the half. Turner, in particular, had a big first half where he picked up eight points, four rebounds, and two blocks to help stifle the Celtic attack down the stretch.

WATCH: Pacers’ Myles Turner Posterizes Gordon Hayward With Ferocious Dunk

After a double team on Bojan Bogdanovic following a Turner screen, Bogdanovic kicked the ball back to a wide open Turner behind the three-point line. Al Horford hustled from his position down in the low post and bit hard on a Turner pump fake. With a wide open lane to the bucket, Turner would put the ball on the ground and aggressively take off towards the rim.

Poor Gordon Hayward was just a split second late rotating over and had no chance to stop Turner. Hayward was barely getting to his spot as Turner had taken flight towards the basket. As expected, the much bigger Turner simply went through Hayward and dunked all over him.

Can the Pacers Pull Off A Miraculous Comeback?

Most likely, no. Down three games to nothing against the Celtics, the Pacers would have to win four straight playoff games against one of the East’s deepest and best-coached teams. For all their regular season streakiness, this Celtics team is built for the postseason and have shown as much so far against the Pacers. On the back of the exceedingly strong play of Kyrie Irving and a rotating carousel of supporting members that Brad Stevens expertly deploys, the Celtics are looking to once again be an incredibly tough out for whatever team has the misfortune of matching up with them.

If the Pacers want to have any chance, it starts by slowing down Irving. The Celtics can find buckets from their number of other players but truly become dangerous when Irving is cooking. The rest of the team feeds off the energy he brings on the offensive side and even slowing him down can go miles towards helping shut down the Celtics. The Pacers also need big offensive showings from Bogdanovic in particular. Without Victor Oladipo, this Pacers unit lacks a truly elite scorer and needs Bogdanovic to step up and shoot the deep ball at nothing short of an excellent clip. The Celtics defense doesn’t give many open looks and the Pacers need their sharpshooter to knock down just about every open opportunity he gets.

0 Comments