There's something to be said for the heroics such as Paul George provided in the Pacers' dramatic comeback victory over Portland on Saturday. Scoring 37 points, including 15 in a row as the clock winds down, and grabbing the rebound of your own miss and dunking it for the game-clinching points is headline material.
There's also something to be said for what Thad Young did, though. Matching your season high with 24 points in just 13 field goal attempts, hitting a career-high six 3-pointers in eight attempts, grabbing nine rebounds, blocking three shots and picking off a couple of steals is practically as impressive.
Should the Pacers have decided to hand out a game ball for the 118-111 victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, which admittedly would have been kind of silly after a one-out-of-82 December game, Young probably would have been the recipient. He would have gotten George's vote, at least.
"Thaddeus was the biggest player of all tonight," George said. "We were joking about him not wanting to get behind that three (line), and what do you know, he goes 6-for-8. His shots were timely. He was the one who kept us in the game."
Young scored 13 of his points in the third period, when the Pacers trailed by as many as 13 points and were trying to avoid succumbing to the Blazers' hot shooting and the fatigue of an 11-day road trip. He hit all five of his shots, including three 3-pointers. His 3-pointer at 6:41 began the trimming of Portland's largest lead of the period, and another one at 5:52 dropped it to seven. A put-back dunk of Rodney Stuckey's missed 3-pointer made it a six-point game with 2:17 remaining. Another 3-pointer 64 seconds into the fourth quarter put the Pacers within five points.
Young – who is averaging 11.9 points on team-best 54 percent shooting – also found ways to contribute during George's late game onslaught, such as with two rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot. He wound up playing all but 1 minute, 41 seconds of the second half, as his versatility took center stage.
"PG was obviously great tonight, but I felt like Thad was the best player out there," Myles Turner said. "I kind of heard the guys on the Trail Blazers' defense saying, 'We'll live, we'll live,' and Thad just kept on hitting them."
If the Blazers thought they could "live" by letting Young hoist 3-point shots, they need to update their scouting report. He was hitting 41 percent of them entering the game, and is now up to 46 percent on 25-of-54 attempts. That ranks first among the Pacers and seventh in the NBA.
Young, though, has admittedly offered a confusing template for 3-point shooting throughout his previous nine NBA seasons. Whenever he's been allowed to make it part of his offense he's hit at least 30 percent of his attempts, topping out at .348 for Philadelphia in the 2009-10 season. Other years he's been told to stick closer to the basket like a conventional "four" man. He took just four for Philly in 2011-12, and just eight the following season. Last season in Brooklyn he attempted 30, hitting seven – one more than he hit on Saturday.
"You have some systems and some coaches that didn't want me to shoot threes," Young said Saturday. "And when it was time to go out there (past the line), there was a lot of inconsistency. With this team they want me to space the court and want me to be that stretch four and it helps the team out to have so many guys who can score the ball. When those guys are making plays (by penetrating) I'm getting wide-open looks."
Pacers coach Nate McMillan, obviously, is one of the coaches who lets Young step out. Wisely so, just as obviously. McMillan said Saturday he's given Young the freedom to find his own comfort zones within the offense, but Young knows where he's needed most. With guards Jeff Teague (.296) and Monta Ellis (.300) so far shooting inconsistently from the 3-point line, Young's long-distance dialing is welcome.
"He gives me the option, but he's been stressing to space the court," Young said. "It's about finding the open gaps within our offense. Sometimes it will be short, sometimes it will be (midrange), sometimes in the corner."
And sometimes it will be absolutely essential.
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