Candace Buckner

IndyStar

Pacers at Raptors, 7 p.m. Monday, FSI, NBA

TORONTO – After one of the most exhilarating moments in his life, Indiana Pacers rookie center Myles Turner spent much of his Saturday evening holed up in his hotel room watching Netflix.

Tame stuff. Especially considering how earlier that day he had played like a wild man, albeit a young one, unleashed upon the Toronto Raptors.

In the first-round NBA playoff game, the 20-year-old Turner pumped both fists after squaring up against All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan and swatting away his shot attempt. He finished with five of those, and changed several more shots at the rim.

Turner jumped to his feet like a punch-drunk boxer when center Jonas Valanciunas flipped him to the floor. He might have collected only five rebounds but has the bruises to prove how hard he fought.

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Then, following another rebound tussle with Valanciunas, Turner spiked the ball and stormed down the court as the whistle indicated loose ball foul on the Raptors. A day later, he hardly remembers this flash of raw emotion. However Turner recalls the whole of the experience, one in which he played a key role during the Pacers' 100-90 win in Game 1.

“That’s one of the most intense basketball games I’ve ever been a part of in my life,” Turner said, while reflecting Sunday afternoon, “as far as the whole hype. The crowd was into it. It was a lot more intense. Battling, two guys (going) back and forth.”

Turner’s left arm still throbbed. “It was probably just Valanciunas,” he guessed. Turner could not say when it happened but pick just about any play between him and Valanciunas and you’d find examples of the physicality in playoff basketball.

“Myles is growing up,” Paul George said. “The biggest part of his growing up is playing physical, learn how to be physical down there. He’s playing against grown men now.”

When starting center Ian Mahinmi committed his second foul at the 9:07 mark of the first quarter, Turner checked in. It didn’t take long for the moment to appear too big for him as Turner bricked a pair of free throws. He quickly recovered, however, to the point that Pacers coach Frank Vogel said he looked “like he’s been playing in the playoffs for 10 years.” And Mahinmi said his backup looked “confident.”

“Sometimes when you’re inexperienced, you lose your focus in a moment like that and he was very focused,” Mahinmi said. “For me, that’s great. It makes me feel better, especially after a rough start to have Myles coming in and being ready to play like that.”

Turner had to be ready for the 23-year-old Valanciunas.

That first-quarter takedown mentioned earlier – no foul, only a jump ball. Later, Turner took a Valanciunas elbow to the mouth and somehow he was called for the loose ball foul. However, Turner felt the physical play was two-sided and by not backing down, he annoyed his opponent.

“Got in his head a little bit and just tried to lay it out,” Turner said of Valanciunas. “He wasn’t talking, but you could tell he was frustrated. I blocked a couple of his shots, I got in his way a lot. When we were both going for rebounds, I got a couple of cheap fouls on him. So I knew he wasn’t happy.”

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Actually, Turner blocked Valanciunas once. But the kid can tell the story the way he wants because in spite of his rival’s big day (setting a franchise record with 19 rebounds), Turner outlasted Valanciunas. Beset by fouls, Valanciunas played only 21 minutes, 17 seconds. Turner played 26 minutes and finished with 10 points and the second highest plus/minus number (15) behind George.

Fitting that the man responsible for bringing Turner to Indiana sees the parallel between the team’s current star and the rising one.

“(George) took his time, and I think Myles can learn a lot about that from him going forward,” Pacers President Larry Bird said. “Just the hard work you put in to get there. You know you’ve got the talent.”

All this promise, and yet still so young.

After the game, Turner FaceTimed his parents back in Bedford, Texas. He ate dinner at Fring’s, the hip downtown Toronto restaurant best known as rapper Drake’s spot. To cap off the night, he grew tired of flipping through hockey games on Canadian television so he turned on Netflix and watched the movie “Bad Roomies,” which, judging by its IMDb page, looked like a comedy perfect for the 18-to-25 year old male demographic. Turner may be in that group, but the Pacers will need him to play beyond his years.

“It’s very different. It’s growing up,” George said of playoff basketball. “He’s ready for those meaningful minutes.”

Follow IndyStar reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

Pacers at Raptors, 7 p.m. Monday, FSI, NBA