Nate Taylor

IndyStar

Rookie Myles Turner, in a season full of new experiences, was given a new role by coach Frank Vogel during the Indiana Pacers’ three-game road trip. In those games, Turner was featured as a prominent scoring option in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

It was a responsibility that Vogel gave to the youngest player on his team with designs of it benefiting the Pacers in the postseason. Yet, the Pacers have already succeeded with Turner rising up and taking shots in clutch situations.

Turner went a combined 5-of-8 from the field on the road trip in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime. He also swished his two free-throw attempts, which sealed the victory Sunday over the Orlando Magic.

With his trajectory as an improving player to a starter to a reliable offensive threat, Turner has accepted each challenge and has responded well when Vogel puts more trust in him.

“I’m a confident player, man,” Turner said after Monday’s overtime loss to the Miami Heat. “That’s all confidence in late-game situations. You can’t be nervous. You got to go. So, I know if I get the ball and I’m put in the situation where I need to score, I’m going to go score. If I’m an option, I’m going to present myself and make myself an option for the team.”

In Friday’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Turner was not afraid to take a corner 3-pointer — just his third attempt from behind the arc — to tie the game in the final minute. Against the Magic, Vogel called plays for Turner to take midrange jumpers after he set a screen. He swished a 15-footer and an 18-footer. Paul George and Monta Ellis, whom the Magic focused on more, each recorded an assist on Turner’s baskets.

“He made big shots for us,” Ellis said after Monday’s game. “He’s been playing great. We need that and he’s been doing that for us and that’s the reason why we’ve been playing the way we’ve been playing lately.”

Myles Turner: The gamble, the future, the talent

Vogel advanced his play calling further in Monday’s game against the Heat. He had Turner post up Miami’s Luol Deng to exploit that matchup. He made two of his three shots in the paint.

“I’m very comfortable in any situation with him shooting from the perimeter and catches inside,” Vogel said of Turner after Monday’s game. “He’s a great finisher.”

Turner appeared to have put the Pacers ahead by three points with eight seconds left in regulation when he attempted a hook shot over Miami’s Hassan Whiteside. The ball, though, spun out.

“That was frustrating,” said Turner, who finished Monday’s game with 16 points and five rebounds. “I could have gone up stronger, but I saw Whiteside, so I just put it up to where he couldn’t block it. It just rimmed in and out. It was tough.”

Beyond the shot, what was most telling was how Vogel planned for Turner to have the ball to potentially finish the game.

Paul George appreciates Vogel’s aggressiveness when it comes to developing Turner. He remembers what it was like when Vogel trusted him toward the end of his rookie season. George said he and rest of the Pacers are confident with having Turner as a third option behind himself and Ellis.

“Every time his number is called, he makes big plays,” George said. “We trust that he can make shots. He’s proven that. He’s the future, so you want to give him that confidence.”

Pacers suffer another heartbreaking loss in Miami

Turner, the 11th pick in last year’s draft, could be matched up against New York’s Kristaps Porzingis, the fourth overall selection, during Wednesday’s game against the Knicks.

He could also take more shots in the fourth quarter because of the health, or damaged health, of George Hill, who is one of the Pacers’ best perimeter shooters. In Monday’s game, Hill struggled in playing through the pain of a sprained right elbow that he sustained in Sunday’s game. He missed all seven of his shots against the Heat and left the locker room after the game with his elbow swollen.

“It sucks, but it’s part of the game,” Hill said Monday.

He added of his elbow: “I’ll be all right. I think everyone is playing through something at this point of the season. You’ve just got to get through it.”

With each passing game, it appears the Pacers are relying more on Turner, a 19-year-old who was playing in high school two years ago.

Turner realizes he cannot look back. More minutes are going to be put on his body, in particular his knees. That means staying out of foul trouble, executing within the Pacers’ offense and having his production late in games rise alongside his confidence.

“It’s good for me being out there I guess in that sort of heat,” he said. “Experience is the best teacher. Getting comfortable with it this part of the season, it’s only going to grow before playoff time.”

Call IndyStar reporter Nate Taylor at (317) 444-6484. Follow him on Twitter: @ByNateTaylor.

Ride along as we travel with the Pacers via the IndyStar Pacers XTRA app: http://bit.ly/1BR4fDs

NEW YORK at INDIANA

Tipoff: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Bankers Life Fieldhouse

TV: Fox Sports Indiana

Radio: WFNI-AM (1070), -FM (93.5)



Knicks (24-34)

Projected starters

Pos;Player;PPG;Key stat

PG; Jose Calderon; 7.3 ppg; 4.0 apg

SG; Arron Afflalo; 14.1 ppg; 38.3 3FG%

SF; Carmelo Anthony; 21.6 ppg; 8.0 rpg

PF; Kristaps Porzingis; 13.9 ppg; 7.5 rpg

C; Robin Lopez; 9.8 ppg; 6.7 rpg

6th; Derrick Williams; 8.7 ppg; 3.6 rpg

Pacers (30-26)

Projected starters

Pos;Player;PPG;Key stat

PG; George Hill; 12.6 ppg; 42.5 3FG%

SG; Monta Ellis; 14.1 ppg; 4.8 apg

SF; Paul George; 23.4 ppg; 7.1 rpg

PF; Myles Turner; 10.4 ppg; 1.5 bpg

C; Ian Mahinmi; 8.8 ppg; 7.1 rpg

6th; Jordan Hill; 9.2 ppg; 6.8 rpg

Storylines

PACERS WILL WEAR HICKORY JERSEYS: Wednesday’s game will feature the Pacers in their red and gold Hickory uniforms. They are just 2-4 in their six previous games wearing the jerseys. The last time the Pacers won a game in red and gold was Nov. 29 against the Los Angeles Lakers.

YOUNG SHINES IN MIAMI: Rookie Joe Young enjoyed his best performance of February in Monday’s overtime loss against Miami. He scored 10 points and picked up three assists in 17 minutes off the bench. Young likely will play more minutes Wednesday while Rodney Stuckey continues to rest his right foot. Young also scored four points and recorded two rebounds in Friday’s victory against Oklahoma City.

QUOTABLE: “(Monday), I got in foul trouble early, and that’s what hurt me. I sat a lot in the second and third quarters. I got to keep myself out of foul trouble because it hurts the team.” — Myles Turner on the importance of not fouling out, as he did in the loss to the Heat.

PREDICTION: The Knicks have lost 12 of their past 14 games. With a sellout home crowd, the Pacers should win easily. Pacers 108, Knicks 95.

— Nate Taylor​