National Basketball Association

Trail Blazers Review: Evan Turner's Top Performances

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Trail Blazers Review: RCP takes a quick look at some of Evan Turner’s best games from the 2015-2016 season.

2015-16 Stats: 10.5 PPG / 4.9 RPG / 4.4 APG / .456 FG%

The Evan Turner deal was announced early on in the free agency period, so not many were comfortable with just how much money would exchange hands this summer. Even Turner himself expressed his surprise about the money offered in his four-year deal with the Portland Trail Blazers. If you put the dollar amount aside – the Trail Blazers acquired a solid small forward this summer.

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The Trail Blazers are making a bet that Turner will be a third offensive creator, behind Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Even though Turner is not an outside shooter, he has an arsenal of weapons on offense. His post up play, passing ability and sneaky athletic finishing moves will help take the pressure off of the star back court. Let’s take a look at what Turner is capable of from his best performances last year:

2/5/16 – Celtics at Cavaliers

Turner – 19 PTS / 12 REB / 6 AST

The Boston Celtics played all the top NBA teams very tough last season. They very nearly swept the Golden State Warriors and on this day, back in February, the Celtics upset the Cleveland Cavaliers. Even though Avery Bradley was the hero with a game winning three pointer, Turner was a big reason for the upset.

Turner played 32 minutes and had a game high plus/minus with +11. He took advantage of an aging Richard Jefferson matchup and did whatever he pleased offensively. Turner also tallied a season high 12 rebounds – an outstanding number from the small forward position.

4/1/16 – Celtics at Warriors

Turner – 21 PTS / 5 REB / 5 AST / 3 STL

After very nearly knocking off the Warriors in Boston, the Celtics went to the Bay area for revenge. Again, Turner came up huge. He did a little bit of everything during this game while hitting 8 of 13 shots from the field. Turner even hit a three pointer, which is the biggest weakness of his game. The free throws Turner hit with 18 seconds left very nearly put the game out of reach.

It’s a good sign that Turner turns in his best performances against the best teams. The Trail Blazers expect this trend to continue next season against the Western Conference’s elite. Turner is the type of player that can affect the game in a variety of different ways. At his best, he fills up the stat sheet on offense and defense. Turner is a clutch player who pairs nicely with a clutch backcourt of Lillard and McCollum.

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