Myles Turner was not having a very good Game 3 of the 2025 NBA Finals for the Indiana Pacers; he was missing open threes and was even missing bunnies at the rim. He ended up with just nine points on 3-11 shooting; this is the sort of shooting inefficiency that usually spells doom against a team as defensively resolute as the Oklahoma City Thunder. Turner, however, more than made up for it on the defensive end, coming up huge with one defensive stop after another in Indiana's 116-107 Game 3 win.

Turner, in particular, got the upper hand over Chet Holmgren in the fourth quarter. On one offensive possession, he backed down the Thunder center and pushed him out of the way (legally) en route to an easy two points. But it was on the defensive end that Turner truly made his mark against Holmgren.

The longtime Pacers center, with a little over two minutes left in the game, put the clamps on Holmgren, swallowing whole a three-point attempt and then swatting a shot from the paint out of bounds off of the Thunder center to give Indiana back the basketball.

Turner's foot speed isn't the best, which is why the Pacers opt to utilize a frontcourt pairing of Obi Toppin and Pascal Siakam to keep up with the small-ball Thunder unit. But as the Pacers have shown time and time again in this year's playoffs, they come up huge when it matters the most. Turner is one of the best shot-blockers in the NBA, and he proved as much when he rejected more shots (five) than the entire Thunder squad did (four) in Game 3, as per StatMuse.

The lifetime Pacers starting center is inching ever so closely to the ultimate goal of winning a championship, and he showed late in Game 3 that he's locked into the goal — poor shooting night notwithstanding.

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Myles Turner, Pacers deliver team effort in Game 3 victory

Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) celebrates after he dunks the ball past Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the fourth quarter of game two of the 2025 NBA Finals at Paycom Center.
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

It was an incredible fourth-quarter effort that gave the Pacers a 116-107 victory in the end against the Thunder in Game 3. Turner did his part by being a defensive menace late in the game, but it was a total team effort that got them to victory lane.

Bennedict Mathurin and TJ McConnell deserve so much credit for holding the fort for the Pacers to start the fourth. Tyrese Haliburton did his thing and finished the job thanks to some big shots, while the likes of Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, and Siakam ended up being reliable hands as always.