Myles Turner out at least two weeks with stress reaction

After being held out of Monday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers due to foot soreness, Myles Turner has been ruled out for at least the next two weeks due to a stress reaction in his left foot, the team announced on Tuesday.

“He will not play (Monday) and we’ll have some updates on timetable sometime in the near future,” head coach Rick Carlisle told reporters over the weekend. “In the last couple games, he’s just felt something so we’re gonna get it checked out.”

Turner played seven minutes during the fourth quarter of Friday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns, exiting with 1:18 to play, when the team was down by 18 points. On Saturday, Goga Bitadze was assigned to the Mad Ants and travelled to Fort Wayne, but did not dress.

Turner didn’t practice before the team went to Los Angeles but was expected to seek a second opinion while traveling with the team. Following a timeout, this is where he (briefly) was shown sitting on the Bally Sports broadcast, which appeared to be in the seats just behind the cameras under the basket, after returning from the huddle.

According to injury buff Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes, a stress reaction is a precursor to a stress fracture, and the average amount of lost time among other players who have suffered the same injury is 20 games.

With that timeframe as a guideline, Turner would not be able to return to action until after the trade deadline, which means his value could be depressed with other teams perhaps hesitant about the additional time he may need to recover and recondition, as ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports.

According to Marc Stein, the Dallas Mavericks, who have repeatedly been linked to Turner as a potential suitor, had already cooled on the possibility of trading for the league’s leading shot-blocker with their defense surging under new head coach Jason Kidd.

For a team like the Blazers, however, who already figure to be without Damian Lillard for an extended period of time after undergoing surgery for a lingering abdominal injury, there might be some latent benefit to pursuing a change at the center spot with an eye for later — especially if it doesn’t lead to wins in the immediate, with Portland currently slotted for the play-in tournament in the Western Conference.

As for the Pacers, Indiana surrendered 139 points to LA on Monday, with the Clippers doing most of the damage from the outside, sinking 18 threes on 50 percent shooting against a combination of 2-3 zone and overhelping. Earlier this season, in the only other game Turner has missed, the Pacers held Minnesota to the century mark, but the overall health of the defense, along with the roster, has suffered since then. Going back to December 1, the Pacers have allowed opponents to score 120.4 points per 100 possessions in 608 minutes with Turner on the floor — including 123 points per 100 possessions in 232 with Turner on and Sabonis off, in which teams have shot 41 percent from three.

Some of that, as was the case on Monday, is clearly a product of shot variance, but the Pacers will also need to be more aware of their responsibilities within the 2-3 and cognizant of how far they pull-over from the weak-side while in the absence of the league’s leading shot-blocker. Of course, as losers of 10 of the last 11 games, getting a closer look at Goga Bitadze as well as, perhaps, rookie Isaiah Jackson should also arguably be a top priority.

Prior to news of the injury, the Pacers were said to be seeking first round picks and young players in talks for Turner, according to Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype.