Not known for his passing skills, Myles Turner has turned into a nifty facilitator since joining the Bucks. His three assists per game fail to capture his role in creating open looks for teammates, either kicking it out to the perimeter or dishing it inside for a Giannis Antetokounmpo jam. Off the bounce or on dribble handoffs, he has consistently made the right read, setting up his fellow Bucks to succeed.
To some extent, Turner has been unselfish to a fault. That seemed to be the case on a couple of occasions in Tuesday’s game against the Knicks, when he passed up open looks in favor of dishing to a teammate. On one such play, he pump faked an open corner three, drove to the basket, and bounced a behind-the-back pass to Ryan Rollins re-locating to the spot Turner had vacated.
Watching the play unfold, head coach Doc Rivers was flabbergasted by Turner’s decision making. Fortunately for all involved, it ended up working out.
All’s well that ends well
The play in question occurred with the shot clock ticking down, midway through the third quarter with the Knicks up 81-79. Accounting for three of his career-high 25 points on a perfect 4-4 night from deep, Rollins cashed in to complete the highlight-worthy sequence – thankfully, for Turner’s sake.
“I almost killed him for that one though, I swear,” Rivers said postgame, via The Athletic’s Eric Nehm. I wanted to kill him because he was wide open.”
— Eric Nehm (@eric_nehm) October 29, 2025
Turner has started the season cold, shooting only 5-for-22 from distance and just 1-5 for five points versus the Knicks. With Rollins on a heater, it isn’t unnatural that Turner would be looking to exchange his shot for Rollins’. That’s not necessarily how the Bucks want him thinking, or how shooters typically think in the NBA. “Just keep shooting” is an age-old cure for cold spells.
But Turner’s playmaking, a surprising facet of his game that has blossomed in Milwaukee, also exemplifies his function as a leader on the court.
Rivers continued. “It just tells you – it’s funny, talking to Reggie Miller before the game because he knows Indiana, he said, ‘Man, you like that leadership, huh?’ And I said, ‘It’s amazing. I never knew.'”
As a former point guard with nearly 5,000 career assists, Rivers also understands Turner’s thought process despite his initial horror. “I really think he saw Ryan, knew where Ryan was going and gave himself up to give Ryan another three. I thought that was unbelievable. Once Ryan made the shot, I was happy again, but yeah.”
Good on Turner for his basketball savvy and floor vision, and good on Rollins for paying it off. It would have been a shame for such a pretty pass to go unrewarded, to say nothing of stoking Rivers’ ire to on the sidelines. Whew.
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