This is Paul George's dilemma.
He knows a team needs to share the ball, get everyone involved in the offense, and have a reasonably balanced attack to have significant success. But he also knows he needs to take over close games to give his team the best chance of winning.
Sometimes the strategy for winning a game isn't the same as for having a winning season. George proved that again Saturday in leading the Pacers to a 118-111 victory over Portland at Bankers Life Fieldhouse that was, in many respects, the most impressive of the season.
If ever a team had a right to be fatigued, this was it. The Pacers were playing their fifth game of the week in the fifth city. They arrived home about 2:30 AM on Saturday after losing in Dallas on Friday, and were right back at it in less than 24 hours. Portland, meanwhile, was waiting on them, having arrived in Indianapolis early Friday morning and practicing at The Fieldhouse in the afternoon.
George not only hadn't bothered to unpack from the 12-day Western journey that had taken them to Portland, Los Angeles, Golden State, Phoenix and Dallas, he hadn't even taken his luggage out of his car. But he stowed away enough energy to lead a comeback from a deficit that had peaked at 20 points four minutes into the second quarter by scoring the Pacers' final 15 points, aside from Rodney Stuckey's two meaningless free throws with 17.1 seconds left.
Sometimes you have to forget the idealistic approach to offense and just go win the game.
"We want ball movement, but we also want to go to the closer," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "You're going to put the ball in the hands of your guy who can get it done. In that situation you're going to personalize where you want that ball to be coming down the stretch, and when the game is on the line we want that ball in Paul George's hands."
Simple logic, there. George has single-handedly rescued the Pacers on more than one occasion this season, and obviously needs to have the ball in his hands frequently late in close games. When that means tossing him the ball and standing back to admire his work, however, it's not exactly the blueprint for long-term success.
Thus, his dilemma. He wants to be a team player. He gathered his teammates to lecture on the need for ball movement and sharing after practice on Nov. 24, the day after a homecourt loss to Atlanta. But he knows he needs to be assertive, too.
"I get the most criticism – you're not doing this, you're not shooting enough," he said after scoring 37 points against the Blazers. "(But) you've got guys who need looks, need opportunities. It's a balance. Am I getting guys (good) looks in rhythm? If we win, everyone's happy, if we lose I put the pressure on me for not getting guys looks and on myself for not being aggressive."
George had help in this one, primarily from Thaddeus Young, who hit a career-high six 3-pointers in eight attempts on his way to 24 points, and also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, blocked a team-high three shots and picked off a couple of steals. Young scored 13 of his points in the third period, when he teamed with four reserves late in the quarter and into the fourth, before George took over.
That makeshift unit happened to be the primary reason he was able to take over.
"I got energized by that second group that got that game close," George said. "I was re-energized and wanted to get back out there."
Make no mistake, the Pacers were tired heading into the game. How could they not be? That's what made the victory special. They've beaten better teams than the 12-13 Blazers, but not under such difficult circumstances.
"Oh, man," Young said. "We felt terrible as a team. We were all tired and our legs were weary."
And yet George was able to say this with a straight face: "Over time we just wore them down and they became a jump-shooting team."
Early on, however, it looked like the Pacers were the worn-out team. They trailed by 13 points after the first period, when Damian Lillard scored 19 of his 33 points, and by 20 early in the second. They got the lead down to seven at halftime, but still trailed by six points with 7 1/2 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Turner hit two foul shots to start the comeback, then George went to work with a flurry of mid-range jump shots.
He scored the game-clinching basket off a rebound of his own miss, snatching the ball from Turner in the lane and dunking the ball for a five-point lead with 31.4 seconds left. He flexed and screamed to celebrate the realization of his personal mission.
"First of all that, was my rebound," Turner said, smiling. "But he wanted it more and he got it and it was a big momentum-swinger. So I don't mind sharing that stat."
A key to the comeback was the work of the Turner and Young on defense. Lillard had bombarded them with 19 points in the first quarter and C.J. McCollum added 19 of his own in the third, but the Pacers "bigs" did a better job late in the game of stepping out and contesting perimeter shots. The Blazers scored just 13 points in the final period – all from McCollum and Lillard – and hit 5-of-18 shots.
"We made some changes," George said. "You can't drop back too far off with our bigs with how quick Damian and C.J. are and how good a shooter they are. They did a great job of pushing up a little higher and not giving them those easy threes."
The Pacers are now 12-12, the absolute epitome of a .500 team. They've strayed more than one game away from sea level just once this season, and have not been above it since they were 1-0 following their opening win over Dallas.
A popular question going around the postgame locker room was whether this game might be the one that sparks a run in the right direction. It was to the players' credit that they remained realistic.
"We've had good wins in the past," Young said. "We've got to use the positive momentum from this game, but we can't get too high over this."
But they get one day to savor it.
"That day off going to be lovely tomorrow, I ain't going to lie to you," Young said.
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