Paul George didn't make an appearance in the box score or in the postgame locker room. But if anyone had bothered to take votes for Player of the Game honors after the Pacers' 118-97 victory over Brooklyn Friday, he would have been a leading candidate.
George's impact on the victory that brought great relief to the two-game homecourt losing skid came after practice on Thanksgiving Day, when he gathered his teammates on the court about 15 minutes afterward to deliver a lecture on offense. It probably wasn't a coincidence that after failing to surpass 85 points in the previous two games the Pacers hit a season-best 55 percent of their field goal attempts – dropping below 60 only because of sloppy garbage time play in the final period – and passed out 25 assists.
"He told us we need more movement," Glenn Robinson III said. "We need to communicate on offense just as we do on defense. We really took that to heart. It showed in this game."
It was announced shortly after the game started that George, and Kevin Seraphin, will miss Sunday's home game against the Los Angeles Clippers and next Wednesday's game at Portland. The Pacers are off for three days after that, until the game in Los Angeles against the Clippers on Dec. 4, so by then George (and Seraphin, who has a sore left knee) should be fully healed. There's a good chance C.J. Miles, who now has missed the last four games with a sore left knee of his own, will be ready to go by then as well.
Until then, and perhaps after then as well, Robinson will have the opportunity of a lifetime. He'll have to play a heavy load of minutes, as he did on Friday. If he can continue to make the most of his sudden workload, it would have a major impact on the team and his career.
He finished with a team-high 20 points against the Nets, hitting 4-of-6 3-pointers, added six rebounds, didn't commit a single turnover, and played credible defense.
"He took the shots the defense gave him, he knocked them down, he worked his behind off defensively...I thought he played a solid game," McMillan said.
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McMillan specifically brought up defense to Robinson before the game, telling him to step up at that end. He did, getting a block of Bojan Bogdanovic's driving layup just a minute into the game, helping set the tone for one of the Pacers' better defensive efforts of the season.
"Anytime I see Glenn playing well, it gives me energy, it gets me excited, it gets me going," Myles Turner said. "I love it when Glenn goes out and has an impact. We know what he's capable of, so when he finally goes out there and does it to other people and plays as hard as he does...I don't even know if it's playing hard...he's kind of quiet, and when he makes big plays it just lifts us."
"That's my guy right there, man," added Jeff Teague, who nearly managed a triple-double with nine points, a career-high nine rebounds, and eight assists (and three steals) in less than 24 minutes. "He's an Indiana connection, so I always try to pump him up a little bit and get him going, tell him how good he is and tell him to play with confidence and believe in himself, and tonight he did that."
Robinson knows his place with the team. He's been frustrated by lack of playing time when everyone is healthy, being a third-year NBA player who has sat out two games entirely, but he's tried to stay positive and patient. And while he's one of the quieter guys on a generally quiet team, he's found he has much ability as anyone to motivate his teammates.
"I really got into my man," he said. "I tried to step up, and I saw the whole team amp up from that. We pressured the ball, got into them, created some turnovers.
"I'm not going to always be the rah-rah guy, but I can lead by example. I can speed things up, pressure the ball, make big plays and be the missing piece that we need."
The Pacers had plenty of pieces on Friday, more than enough to make up for the holes left by George, Miles and Seraphin. Aside from Robinson's career-high point total and Teague's near first triple-double, there was:
- Myles Turner scoring 16 points on just 11 shots, grabbing eight rebounds, and blocking four shots.
- Monta Ellis quietly hitting all six field goal attempts on his way to 14 points, passing out three assists, and failing to commit a turnover.
- Thad Young personifying solid basketball once again with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one turnover.
- Rodney Stuckey coming off the bench for 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting in 25 ½ minutes, and talking of rounding into shape after a two-week absence because of injury.
- Al Jefferson reaching double figures for the first time in seven games with 16 points on 8-of-14 shooting.
McMillan got credit for the improved offense as well. He delivered an impassioned pregame talk that struck a chord, just as George's had.
"Coach had a really good talk before the game, just giving us some spirit, letting us know what he expects out of us," Stuckey said. "I think we came out and showed who we should be. That's grit, grind and get after them defensively. Offensively, share the ball and when you're open shoot the ball."
The Pacers are now 8-9, with one more home game on Sunday against the Clippers before the schedule turns menacing with five consecutive road games and a five-game bombardment over a seven-day period between Dec. 4-10.
They need Friday's performance to be the start of something, rather than an exception.
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