It was just one play in the third quarter, but it summarized an entire game. A pregame locker room, too.
Glenn Robinson III, the little brother of the entire Pacers' roster, caught the ball in transition and went strong to the basket, attempting to leap over Jimmy Butler and dunk the ball. He took off from too far out to convert it, banging the ball off the front of the rim, but drew a foul.
He also drew oohs and aahs from the fans and respect from his teammates. Myles Turner was already jumping up and down with gleeful anticipation as Robinson began to rise, and Paul George was already talking trash to Butler.
"Watch your head!" George shouted.
This is fun, right?
The Pacers took a season-long four-game losing streak into the game, so "fun" had become the prescription to get them out of their funk. Paul George had talked about it with his teammates and the media on Thursday, then talked about it again with his teammates in the locker room before the game. Their early loose energy helped produce a 22-8 lead and then their late energy and poise allowed them to break loose from a tie with 4 ½ minutes left for a 111-101 victory over Chicago at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
The victory, which left them 16-18 heading into 2017, produced one of the more interesting box scores of the season. George asserted himself without disrupting the offense, scored 11 points in the final 5 minutes, 10 seconds and finished with a game-high 32. Jeff Teague had 17 assists, most by a Pacers player since Jamaal Tinsley in February of 2002. Thad Young was his usual solid self with 17 points and six rebounds. Myles Turner added 15 points and four blocked shots despite foul trouble that limited his minutes.
Robinson, meanwhile, produced a template for his ideal role if he can hang on to his starting role by scoring 12 points on just four field goal attempts, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds and playing solid defense on future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade.
"We just went out and played without hesitation, and with a lot of confidence," Robinson said.
"We have a lot of laid-back guys which is fine, but once we remember to have fun...we come in and work hard every day but if you're not having fun with it, sometimes it can get a little repetitive or a little bit boring at times. That's what we've been missing. We just tried to go out and have fun."
The Pacers' stuttering on-court chemistry has often contradicted their smooth off-court chemistry this season. Their resolution for the new year should be figuring out how to bring out the best in one another more consistently during games.
"We have a great time in this locker room," George said after returning from the cold tub. "We enjoy each other in this locker room. I was (challenging) my team to show that on the court. We do it all day long in this locker room, we do it all day long traveling, we do it all day long in the hotels...let's show it on the court."
They did that for the most part, moving the ball better than usual in their half-court offense and getting common-sense shot distribution. They got out and ran, too, outscoring the Bulls 19-10 on fastbreak points. Rebounding remains a glaring issue, as they allowed 15 offensive rebounds and 22 second-chance points, but they made up for that by committing just 11 turnovers, hitting 48 percent of their shots and allowing the Bulls just two points over the final 3:54.
"I loved our motor," coach Nate McMillan said.
Robinson seems to be the one most able to rev the motor. He's trying to hang on to the starting spot opened by Monta Ellis' absence due to a groin strain, but had averaged just 3 points while hitting 6-of-30 shots over the previous five games. This game got him back on track, at least for one day. His teammates openly pull for him, even while badgering him in the postgame locker room.
A gathering storm of microphones was waiting in front of Robinson's stall after the game to ask about his performance, but he had his back turned while dressing and didn't notice. That provided an opening for Al Jefferson, two stalls over to the left, to loudly (and jokingly) complain about young guys in the NBA not showing respect. Then Teague, two stalls over to the right, began offering commentary on some of Robinson's answers, while Kevin Seraphin joined the media scrum and held up his cell phone, as if shooting video of his answers.
All in love.
"You guys don't know Glenn like we know Glenn," George said later. "Glenn's really, really good. He's done a lot of great things for us in practice and we want him to do that on the court during games.
"He's been put in this new role and he's just unsure if any mistake causes him to lose that spot. I've been in his situation. That's what I used to think – that I have to play the game perfect. I think he's been pressing because of that."
Ellis -- who played 13 minutes, 22 seconds off the bench in his second game back – has tried to help in that regard. He's made it clear to McMillan he cares more about winning than starting, and has backed up that attitude by mentoring Robinson. He told Robinson before the game to get out and run on offense to open up the court for transition baskets, and during the game to play off Wade a step on defense to counteract Wade's patented spin moves to the basket.
"Monta's a great vet," Robinson said. "I'm sure he wants that spot back, but he does a great job of trying to lead me. He's not one of those guys who's going to have something against me because I have that starting spot."
Time will tell whether Robinson will keep it. He'll have it on Sunday when the Pacers play Orlando at The Fieldhouse, but he'll have to continue to contribute what he brought to this game to keep it long-term. That dunk attempt helped his cause, because of what it represented: aggression and confidence, which gave his teammates adrenaline and something to talk about.
"I was giving Jimmy some mess on that," George said. "I told him if (Glenn) had made that dunk I was definitely going to send him the poster. I might still send it; it still should be a poster. We'll edit it."
Sounds like fun. But the Pacers will have to bring that collective energy consistently for Friday's victory to mean anything. They play the Magic, Detroit, Brooklyn, and New York next week. All of those games but the one against Detroit are at home, and all of them fall into the "winnable" category given the respective records.
All they have to do is what they did on Friday.
"We're capable of doing that every night," Robinson said. "We look great as a team when we start moving it. Once we get that down we'll be a great team."
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