Win or lose this series, the Pacers, and Turner in particular, will take something very important away from the experience: a desire to make sure the Pacers never miss the playoffs as long as he plays

This is why the Pacers refuse to tank. Ever. Sure, it has something to do with the fact they rake in the money with every home playoff game, but more, it’s about Larry Bird and maintaining a culture where reaching the playoffs is a baseline expectation.

That particular thought crossed Austin Croshere’s mind Saturday night when he turned on his phone and saw Myles Turner’s post-Game 1 tweet:

"Most exhilarating experience I’ve ever been a part of in my life!" Turner wrote.

Most exhilarating experience I've ever been apart of in my life! Great effort and helluva win! — Myles Turner (@Original_Turner) April 16, 2016

Croshere, the former Pacer, chuckled a little bit, then gave it more thought and ultimately understood what Turner was saying – because once upon a time, he was that wide-eyed rookie playing in the post-season.

"I remember my first year, playing in the Eastern Conference Finals Game 6, Reggie [Miller] hit that huge shot at Market Square Arena, and I remember thinking, 'This is the greatest moment of my life'," Croshere said as he watched the Pacers practice at Air Canada Centre Sunday afternoon. "Now that I’m 40, it’s kind of laughable that I once thought that was the most exhilarating moment of my life, but you kind of get it.

"But you take it a step further, the idea of building a team while still winning versus a team that tanks, those guys like [Jahlil] Okafor and [D’Angelo] Russell, their teams have no interest in winning right now and their players are not getting that perspective. Myles is getting these moments that create the fire and the burn to want to get back there. Because you get what it’s about and you don’t get that when you tank.

"Losing, it changes you, it changes who you are. Humans are built to adapt to whatever our situations are, so as you lose 6-7 games in a row three or four times, you’re going to find a way to adapt to that. You start thinking, 'How do I make this OK?'"

While it’s true the Pacers’ best - and sometimes only - avenue for improvement is through the draft , while it’s true that Turner would not be in Indianapolis if not for the fact the Pacers missed last year’s playoffs, the organizational bottom line remains the same: Reach the postseason. And then take your chances. Who knows? Maybe you’ll run into one of the more suspect No. 2 seeds going, the Toronto Raptors, who’ve now lost seven straight playoff games with this particular core of players. More important, though, these next few weeks – win or lose – will provide a player like Turner with an experience that will benefit him throughout his career.

"This is unbelievable for him, getting this experience," Bird said before the Pacers’ off-day practice at Air Canada Center Sunday. "The guys who don’t make the playoffs, they never get this feeling. And they soon find out that every round is different. It just keeps getting tougher and harder as you go on."

Turner’s teammates can tell the 20-year-old rookie what it’s all about – and they have – but until you walk into a bright and loud arena with manic fans at playoff time, you don’t really know. Even if the Pacers get eliminated in this first round by the Raptors, this next week or two will provide Turner with a taste and a feel for the post-season, and will keep him motivated to return every year.

"There’s no substitute for this," Frank Vogel said. "You have to feel it, the speed of the game, the intensity of the crowd, the physicality."

Turner acknowledged after Game 1 that early on, he was suffering from what golfer Ernie Els described as the "heebie-jeebies." And you saw it with those two uncharacteristic free throw misses shortly after he entered the game. But then he settled down, settled in, and spent the rest of the day battling mammoth Jonas Valanciunas, scoring 10 points and blocking five shots. "He was definitely a little overmatched on the boards," Vogel said. "But a lot of people are overmatched by that guy."

Vogel was impressed, though; overjoyed, even. There was one play down the stretch when Paul George broke down the defense and made a quick pass to Turner at the rim. Instead of panicking and going straight up and possibly getting blocked, he took his time, shot faked, let the shot blocker fly by and made the simple lay-up.

Chronologically, Turner is 20 years old. But the calendar lies; he’s an older soul, except when he’s telling Vogel about "Star Wars" and then Vogel is reminded that the kid is still just a month removed from his teenage years. But in terms of basketball and approach to the game? "Very, very mature," Vogel said.

Said Bird: "He’s above and beyond anybody else I’ve seen at this age. He’s a different guy as far as his maturity. These guys, because he’s a rookie, they make him go out and get them donuts or chicken wings or whatever, and I’m sure he’s thinking, 'I don’t need to be doing this.' But he does it. If I was 19 and teammates told me to go out and get them donuts, you can bet there would have been fistfights."

"I’m still not as mature as him," Bird laughed.

The interesting thing is, Bird was almost entirely sure this was going to be a lost season for Turner. When he injured his hand early in the season, Bird figured he would be like almost every other rookie and sort of fall by the wayside.

"Most rookies, if they get hurt, they stop concentrating and they stop paying attention, so I thought this year would be a wash for him – kind of a wasted year," Bird said. "But then I’m talking to our strength and conditioning people and they’re telling me [Turner] is the hardest working guy they’d ever seen while he was going through this whole episode. And he kept paying attention. He got back on the floor and knew what he was doing."

Once the hand was healed, Turner announced himself during a West Coast trip and virtually demanded his entry into the starting lineup with his play. Over time, though, the production fell and Vogel decided he would be best suited to playing on the second unit. Maybe he hit the rookie wall and maybe it was something else, but Turner appears well suited to playing with a group who likes to play at a quicker tempo. "I explained to him, it wasn’t a demotion," Vogel said.

Come Saturday afternoon, though, Turner was required to play big minutes when Ian Mahinmi got into foul trouble. Yes, he had a tough time keeping Valanciunas off the boards, but he protected the rim and made all the right plays offensively.

Win or lose this series, the Pacers, and Turner in particular, will take something very important away from the experience: