The Indiana Pacers' frustrating season took another unfortunate turn on Monday, as the team announced that Myles Turner will be out indefinitely due to a toe injury.
In a press release, the Pacers indicated that Turner underwent an MRI which revealed he has a "partial tear of his plantar plate in the great toe of his right foot." Turner's status and a timeline for his return will be updated at a later date. Most likely, the team needs to determine if Turner needs surgery or not. Obviously, the recovery time would be much longer if Turner has to go the surgical route.
As Dr. Jennifer Nicole Falk, a podiatrist from California, explained on her website, the plantar plate is "a ligament [soft tissue structure] that connects the metatarsal head to the proximal phalanx [toe bone]." If that's still confusing, here is a diagram of the foot.
Blake Griffin suffered a similar injury during the 2017 playoffs and missed the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery. He was able to return for the next season, but because he recovered in the offseason it's a little unclear exactly how long he was off the court.
Prior to returning on Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks, Turner had missed six games due to a sprained ankle. He also missed time earlier this season with an avulsion fracture in his hand. The various injuries have derailed what started off as a really promising season for Turner, especially on the defensive end. At the time of this latest issue, he was putting up 12.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and a league-leading 3.4 blocks per game.
Ahead of Monday's slate of games, the Pacers are in ninth place in the Eastern Conference and have a three-game lead over the Toronto Raptors, Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. As it stands, they are in pretty good shape for making the play-in tournament, but that's certainly no guarantee with Turner sidelined and a few weeks left in the regular season.
