As Trail Blazers Battle Injuries, They Need Evan Turner to Score More

Evan Turner #1 of the Portland Trail Blazers

Getty Evan Turner #1 of the Portland Trail Blazers puts up a shot over Danilo Gallinari #8 of the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center on December 15, 2016 in Denver, Colorado.

The Portland Trail Blazers have won 10 of their last 12 games but Evan Turner hasn’t exactly been lighting up the scoreboard.

Turner’s playmaking abilities are not in question, his assist ratio is the highest it’s been since he joined the team (31.5) but his ability to score has been poor.

His performance in last Wednesday’s 118-98 road win against the Bulls is the perfect example of what he’s done for the team. Turner had eight assists and two rebounds in 22 minutes, but he scored just two points on 1-for-5 shooting.

Turner, a former No. 2 overall pick by the 76ers in the 2010 NBA Draft, is in the third season of a four-year/$70 million deal with the Trail Blazers. He’s versatile and that ability to play different positions has been valuable off the bench but he has to score more, especially now with CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic out.

The Trail Blazers would have benefitted from a more solid effort from Turner on Saturday’s 99-90 road loss against the Pistons when he finished with just four rebounds and two assists in 16 minutes. It was his fifth game going scoreless in March and he averaged just 1.6 points in 14.9 minutes over 11 games in that month.

Evan Turner missed just two shots against the Pistons – but having your sixth man end the game with just two attempts is not ideal when facing a playoff team. His performance concerned me because he wasn’t able to impact the game like he usually does. Often this season, his scoring has lacked but he makes up for it with his playmaking and rebounding.

The eight-year veteran currently averages a career-low 6.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists in 22.0 minutes over 69 games. He is shooting 45.5 percent from the field, despite making a career-worst 16.7 percent of his 3-point shots.

Turner’s performance in Monday’s 132-122 road win against the Timberwolves shows exactly what the Trail Blazers need from him on a regular basis. He was aggressive and made all his five shots to record a triple-double off the bench with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in 25 minutes. Turner became the first player in NBA history to shoot perfect from the floor while posting a triple-double off the bench.

In this game, Turner led the second-unit while the starters rested, facilitated the offense, crashed the boards and took smart shots. He has to do this regularly for the Trail Blazers. They believed he could be a key contributor for them two years ago and he has to prove them right. The talent is there, he just has to embrace his role and trust his shot.

Jason Quick of The Athletic summed up what Turner means to the Trail Blazers:

The eruption from Blazers bench when Evan Turner secured a rebound for his triple double was a beautiful reflection of how he is valued by teammates. He does so much team building behind scenes and so many little things on court in games. The guys know it and appreciate it.

If Evan Turner improves as a scorer the Trail Blazers can make some noise in the playoffs, even with McCollum potentially out of rhythm and without Nurkic. Hosting the Grizzlies tonight will be a great opportunity for him to build off his strong performance against the Timberwolves.

READ NEXT: Eric Paschall Fordham: Why Did the Forward Transfer to Villanova?