Iron Man Evan Turner Likely To Return Friday
By Liam O'Brien
After suffering a left-eye abrasion in Sunday night’s victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, shooting guard Evan Turner sat out Wednesday night’s contest against the New Orleans Pelicans, in all likelihood returning for their matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, a dangerous team more potent than their record would indicate.
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Turner, who suffered the injury in the waning seconds of the win in Southern California, will resume light, non-contact shooting duties on Thursday before attempting to take the floor at TD Garden the following evening.
Being placed on the injury report is rarified territory for Turner, as his absence from the date with the Pelicans marks his first stint on the “DNP” list since January 16, 2012, breaking an astounding streak of 375 consecutive games without missing a single beat.
When you consider the entire picture, this Iron Man-esque consistency of coming to work ready to play every single night is truly remarkable. The present-day NBA is filled with an overwhelming collection of players who would rather opt to sit out a game while nursing a minor injury rather than run the risk of aggravating the injury further, citing the grueling road of the NBA season as the reason for their unwillingness to give it a go.
However, Turner is an exception to that rule, enveloped with an unwavering will to play even when dealing with a nagging ailment or fatigue from the relentless travel of the NBA season.
This aspect of the Ohio State product’s persona correlates with his unique style of play. Turner is undoubtedly the most versatile athlete on the Boston Celtics roster, and it’s unfair to label him solely as a shooting guard.
The 6’7″ swingman can do it all, averaging 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists on the season. Whatever role head coach Brad Stevens asks him to play, he fills in admirably, and his stat sheet contains a brand new surprise every single night.
For example, in a narrow victory over the Phoenix Suns on March 26, Turner accounted for 17 points and 11 rebounds while preserving the victory with a blocked shot on Suns’ rookie phenom Devin Booker on a potential game-tying three-pointer with under four seconds remaining.
Then, in Boston’s most uplifting the victory of the season and possibly the biggest upset in the NBA to date in 2015-16, Turner contributed 21 points, five rebounds, five assists, and three steals as the Celtics broke the Golden State Warriors’ record-setting 54-game home winning streak with a dominant 109-106 thriller on April 1.
Ask him to fill Avery Bradley’s position in the starting lineup? No issue there either. While Bradley missed Sunday’s win due to personal reasons, Turner was effective as per usual while inserted into a starting role, hitting seven of his 12 field goal attempts for 17 points while garnering four rebounds and four dimes as well.
Turner’s one glaring weakness is his three-point shooting, however, he has taken steps to improve in this regard as of late. After shooting a horrific 11% from beyond the arc in January, Turner decreased his three-point attempts per game average from 1.1 to 0.8 in March, upping his percentage to an excellent 46% in the process.
The former No. 2 overall selection in the 2010 draft is aware that his speciality is the short corner when it comes to shooting the trey. Thus, he has focused on solely offering up attempts when he is within comfortable range from that area of the floor.
Currently, Turner is shooting 100% from three-point range in the month of April, going 1-1 in each of the past two games.
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Furthermore, the five-year man is a crisp cut fan favorite. He appeared at the Boston Bruins game on Tuesday night amid a collection of cheers from the raucous crowd and is a media favorite because of his wry sense of humor, which should be put on full display as he dons a face mask to protect his eye come Friday night.