Five games into the season, Myles Turner finally looked like the player Milwaukee was hoping for. The two-way dominance we all knew we were getting eventually showed up in a big way in the Bucks' massive 120-110 win over the Golden State Warriors.
What's most impressive was that Giannis was out, and Turner had to step up as the team had to chip in on the offensive side of the ball. And he delivered, finishing his 29-minute outing with 17 points, seven rebounds, and three assists on 7-of-12 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range.
Perhaps for the first time this season, the vision behind the front office's Damian Lillard-for-Myles Turner swap is crystal clear. And it looks dominant.
Myles Turner is finally acclimatizing to the system after a slow start
The first few games showed a player still figuring out his spots, unsure when to shoot and when to defer.
The offensive rhythm was a complete departure from his first few outings. This time around, Turner wasn't hesitating on open looks or forcing up bad shots to compensate for bad production.
Against Golden State, Turner played with confidence. He drilled threes when left open, protected the rim without fouling, and made smart reads as a passer.
That's exactly how Milwaukee needs him to operate.
Defensively, he was the anchor the Bucks have been missing for years, contesting everything at the rim, switching onto guards when necessary, and cleaning the glass. Golden State couldn't get comfortable attacking the paint with Turner lurking, which freed up Milwaukee's perimeter defenders to be more aggressive.
His game had a cerebral element to it, too. Most noticeably, he blitzed Stephen Curry off Draymond Green screens on one end, and then at another point, timed his weak-side cuts with Kyle Kuzma's roll for easy dumpoff passes on the other end. It's clear he knows exactly what Doc Rivers wants him to be doing.
The real test comes next, though. Because now he needs to show he can do it while coexisting with Giannis on the court, too.
Against the Sacramento Kings, Turner put up just nine points and three rebounds in 24 minutes of action, though he hit three of his four attempts from distance.
Turner thriving as the primary big man is great, but Milwaukee's championship hopes depend on him and Giannis fitting together seamlessly.
With Giannis, Turner needs to maintain this aggressive mindset while adjusting his role. He can't disappear into the background. Spacing the floor with his shooting while protecting both the rim and the perimeter is everything the Milwaukee Bucks needed, and it looks like they finally have it.
If Turner can play like this next to Giannis consistently, Milwaukee suddenly has the foundation for legitimate championship contention. That pairing should theoretically be unstoppable: Giannis creating chaos in the paint while Turner stretches defenses and cleans up mistakes on defense.
We've seen too many times where talented big men struggle to coexist with Giannis. But we also know that Brook Lopez (and to a lesser degree, Bobby Portis) figured it out eventually. Now Turner just needs to prove he can do the same.
This performance against the Warriors showed what Turner's ceiling with the Bucks can look like, but the game against Sacramento shows he still has stretches of inconsistency. Now he needs to make that his floor, regardless of who's sharing the court with him.
But right now, Milwaukee Bucks fans are right to celebrate the fact that the system fit is finally clicking. Hopefully it's the start of Turner becoming the two-way force Milwaukee needs.