2016 olympics

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PS&E Employees Congratulate Paul George

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On Wednesday morning, the staff of Pacers Sports & Entertainment gathered on the main court at Bankers Life Fieldhouse to congratulate Pacers forward Paul George on winning a gold medal with USA Basketball at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

George, the first Pacers player to win an Olympic medal since Reggie Miller in 1996, arrived to thunderous applause from the large crowd of employees. With his gold medal draped around his neck, PG shook hands with Pacers President/COO Rick Fuson.

PHOTO GALLERY: PS&E Employees Congratulate Paul George »

"We couldn't be more proud of you," Fuson said. "You represented our city, our state, your country, your family, all of us — the team behind you — so well. We congratulate you on this great gold medal and we can't wait til you get back to work and ready for the Pacers season."

Fuson then declared Wednesday as "Paul George Day" on behalf of the Pacers.

George, who has endured an emotional roller coaster over the past couple years, then addressed the crowd. After breaking his leg at the USA Basketball Showcase on Aug. 1, 2014, George returned to All-Star level last season in Indiana before helping Team USA win the gold in Rio.

"I'm sure you all know the whole injury and just going over to Rio and winning this thing, it was more than playing for the country for me," George told the staff. "It was kind of closing the chapter and moving on with my life and bringing this (medal) back to this team and this culture."

After addressing the crowd, George removed the medal from around his neck and allowed the employees to pass it around and take pictures with it.

Of course, the 26-year-old George still has a lot that he hopes to accomplish. He told those assembled that his next focus is on bringing a championship home to Indiana.

Pacers Media Day is less than two weeks away on Monday, Sept. 26. Indiana will then open training camp for the 2016-17 NBA season on Tuesday, Sept. 27.

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Pacers Sports & Entertainment Employees Congratulate Paul George on Gold Medal

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Paul George and Team USA Win Gold

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On Sunday afternoon in the Gold Medal game of the 2016 Rio Olympics, Paul George and Team USA put together their most complete game of the entire tournament, blowing out Serbia 96-66 in a game that seemed finished at the halftime whistle.

Team USA was of course a heavy favorite going into the tournament, but tight games against France, Australia, and Serbia (a week earlier), had brought doubts about whether or not the US was up for the international challenge. That question was answered forcefully on Sunday in the form of a convincing rout against Serbia.

On social media, players reacted to the Gold Medal win in celebratory fashion.

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Social Roundup: PG and Team USA Celebrate Gold Medal Run

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Paul George's comeback from the broken leg that threatened his NBA career ended with a gold medal Sunday, as Team USA dominated Serbia in the Olympic final in Rio de Janeiro, 96-66.

The U.S. now has won six of the last seven gold medals in Olympic competition, with 2004 the exception. Carmelo Anthony, a member of that team, won his third gold medal and completed his Olympic career as the all-time U.S. scorer.

"It wasn't always pretty," an emotional Anthony said afterward. "But we came together July 17 (to begin practice) and we committed."

The final game was anticlimactic given the challenge Serbia had posed to Team USA in their previous game, a three-point victory in which Serbia had a 3-pointer in the final seconds that could have forced overtime. The U.S., however, put together its most complete performance of the tournament after a slow start.

Kevin Durant led the U.S. team with 30 points, hitting 10-of-19 shots. Klay Thompson was the only other starter in double figures with 12 points. DeMarcus Cousins came off the bench to score 13 points and grab 15 rebounds.

In a fictional world, George would have played a starring role. He had suffered compound fractures of two bones in his right leg on Aug. 1, 2014 in an intrasquad game as part of the preparation for the FIBA World Cup – an injury routinely described as "horrific" and one that kept him out of all but the last six games of the Pacers' 2014-15 season. As it turned out, he had one of his lesser performances, finishing with nine points on 2-of-9 shooting.

Overall, however, George was a vital contributor throughout the Olympics and perhaps its most complete player. He provided further evidence of that on Sunday, when he effectively hounded Serbia point guard Milos Telodosic on defense, one of the reasons Serbia hit just 38 percent of its field goal attempts.

George had been the subject of a four-minute feature before the game, detailing his comeback from the injury.

Team USA started slowly, trailing 14-11 at one point. It hit just 7-of-20 shots in the first quarter, and had to hit its final two to accomplish that. But it closed the period with an 8-1 run to open a four-point lead, and dominated the rest of the way.

George opened the second-quarter scoring with a steal and breakaway dunk. Its lead was up to 52-39 at halftime, and was 79-43 at the end of the third period.

Spain, which lost to Team USA on Friday by six points, defeated Australia, 89-88, to win the silver medal.

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Game Rewind: USA 96, Serbia 66 (Gold Medal Game)

Seven down, one to go. Pacers All-Star Paul George and the United States men's basketball team are just one win away from securing the country's third consecutive Olympic gold medal in men's basketball. Standing in their way is a Serbian team that gave them their toughest game so far in Rio.

The Americans eked out a 94-91 win over Serbia in the group stage on Aug. 12. The USA controlled that game early, leading by as many as 18 points in the first half, but allowed Serbia to claw their way back. The United States only narrowly avoided overtime when Bogdan Bogdanovic missed an open 3-pointer just before the final buzzer.

George started that game and put together a solid all-around performance, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds, and four assists.

A little over a week later, the two teams will meet again with a gold medal on the line. The United States will be looking for its 15th gold medal in 18 Olympics, while Serbia is guaranteed its first medal of any kind as an independent nation.

The USA advanced to the gold medal game with an 82-76 win over Spain on Friday afternoon. The game wasn't as close as the final score, as the United States led by double digits for the vast majority of the fourth quarter.

The Americans had some shaky defensive performances in the group stage, but they put the clamps down on Spain in the semifinal. The USA outrebounded Spain 53-41 overall and 21-14 on the offensive glass while holding the Spaniards to 38.9 percent shooting. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan led the way with a dominant performance in the paint, finishing with nine points, 16 rebounds, and four blocks.

The Serbians, meanwhile, stunned many by blowing out Australia in the other semifinal. Australia entered the contest with only one loss in Rio and a 15-point win over Serbia in the group stage. But the Serbians dominated the Aussies on Friday afternoon, stifling the Boomers' offense en route to an 87-61 victory.

Serbia held Australia to just five points in the first quarter and nine in the second to open up a 21-point halftime lead. The Australians struggled mightily to find any kind of rhythm offensively and finished the night just 4-for-31 from 3-point range.

Though the Serbian roster doesn't feature many current NBA players, the USA knows they can't take them lightly.

Nuggets 6-10 forward Nikola Jokic, a first-team NBA All-Rookie selection last season, comes off the bench for his country. Still, he terrorized the United States in the two teams' first meeting in Rio, finishing with 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting.

7-foot center Miroslav Raduljica has been a force for Serbia in the interior. Raduljica, who played briefly in the NBA for the Bucks and Timberwolves, leads all players in Rio in field goal percentage (62.3 percent) and ranks seventh in scoring (15.9 points per game).

Leading the Serbian backcourt is 6-5 guard Milos Teodosic. Teodosic led Serbia in their semifinal win with 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting and five assists. He went 4-for-7 from 3-point range and dished out six assists against the United States in the group stage.

Given some of the United States' defensive struggles, it wouldn't be surprising to head coach Mike Krzyzewski stick George — the USA's best perimeter defender — on Teodosic to slow down the Serbian attack.

Their close call in the group stage notwithstanding, the Americans still figure to be heavy favorites to beat Serbia a second time. The American roster features so much talent and their biggest struggle in Rio has been guarding against complacency, particularly on the defensive end. But with an Olympic gold medal on the line, it's hard to imagine complacency being an issue on Sunday. If the United States can match the effort they put forth in their semifinal victory over Spain, that should be more than enough to secure one more win.

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Game Preview: USA vs Serbia (Gold Medal Game)

Deandre Jordan led a smothering defensive effort that led Team USA to an 82-76 victory on Friday, and into Sunday's gold medal game of the Olympics.

The opponent will be the winner of the game between Australia and Serbia, to be played Friday evening. Team USA played both teams earlier in the tournament, defeating Australia by 10 points and Serbia by three.

The eighth and final game will draw the line between success and failure for the U.S. team, which entered the Olympics as a definite favorite to win the gold medal, but has been challenged in its last five games by teams with NBA talent.

"It's a Game Seven," Jordan said of Sunday's game. "Guys know how important this is. We want this really bad for us and our country. I feel like on Sunday we'll have a full 40 minutes."

Jordan, benefiting from the extra playing time that came from DeMarcus Cousins' foul trouble, finished with nine points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots. Klay Thompson, playing 35 of the 40 minutes, led Team USA with 22 points and hit 4-of-8 3-point shots.

Pacers forward Paul George – who entered the game as Team USA's third-leading scorer with a 12.5 average – had his least effective game of the Olympics with six points on 3-of-8 shooting,  six rebounds, an assist and two steals.

George had spelled out Team USA's game plan in an interview before the game.

"We just have to...continue to do what we do best: play defense, get out and run," he said. "The games should come easy for us."

"We feel we're making moves in the right direction. We're figuring it out, going off the game against Argentina (on Wednesday) where we played as a unit on the offensive and defensive end. We have to be able to pick up the pressure, speed teams up, and determine how these games go by dictating every play."

The U.S. followed through with that approach for the most part, preventing point guard Ricky Rubio from penetrating and forcing Spain into 8-of-26 3-point shooting. The U.S. hit just 9-of-26 3-pointers but controlled the boards 53-41.

Five technical fouls were called in an uneven first half, three on the U.S.

Kyle Lowry's 3-pointer closed the first quarter to give Team USA a 26-17 lead, but the momentum didn't continue into the second quarter as Spain opened with a 10-3 run to pull within three points and force a U.S. timeout. George figured into two events in that run, directly and indirectly.

Carmelo Anthony missed two free throws off a technical foul on Spain's coach, prompting television commentator Doug Collins to wonder why George didn't get the opportunity.

"Paul George is shooting 82 percent from the free throw line and they're putting Carmelo out there," Collins said. "I'm surprised by that."

Moments later, George was called for a technical foul for objecting to a foul call after a Spain player fell down while fighting George for post position. George thought he had flopped.

Spain – which has eight players back from its 2012 Olympic team – was still within three points in the final minute of the half, but Thompson hit a 3-pointer from the right corner to open a six-point halftime lead.

Team USA took its first 10-point lead on Anthony's three-point play in the third quarter, and it managed an 11-point lead on Deandre Jordan's one-handed rebound slam dunk of Thompson's missed 3-pointer later in the period. That play forced a Spain timeout, and it came back with five unanswered points to get within six. Jordan closed out the period with a lob dunk from Lowry to open a nine-point lead.

George's rebound basket early in the final quarter opened a 70-57 lead and brought a Spain timeout. Team USA's lead peaked at 15 on Lowry's layup moments later, and Spain never threatened seriously the rest of the game. Spain closed the game with a 7-0 run to shrink the final margin.

Thompson said the U.S. team's defense will determine Sunday's outcome.

"We know what's at stake and everyone on this team is capable of playing high level defense," he said.

"One game left, and then we can get some rest. So you put everything you can into this game and all it's going to take is 40 minutes of trusting each other and playing hard and we should come out on top."

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Game Rewind: USA 82, Spain 76 (Semifinals)

With the United States men's basketball team advancing to the semifinals in Rio de Janeiro, NBC Olympics unveiled a video feature on Pacers forward Paul George's triumphant return to the national team.

George, of course, suffered a traumatic leg injury when playing in the USA Basketball Showcase in Las Vegas on August 1, 2014. The resulting fracture in his right leg forced him to miss all but the final six games of the 2014-15 NBA season.

But George came back better than ever last season, leading the Pacers back to the playoffs and earning another All-Star selection. His inclusion on the 2016 Olympic roster is one of the feel-good stories in Rio.

NBC's feature (which George shared via Twitter) is narrated by Dan Patrick and talks with George and his parents about the injury, what it took for him to get back on the court, and why it was important for him to return to USA Basketball.

In the video, George opens up about the inspiring force his mother provided. Paulette George suffered a stroke when Paul was just a toddler, and he's witnessed her fight through numerous medical issues over the years.

"When he looks at me, it's like, 'If my mama can do this, I know that I can,'" Paulette said.

"She went through a wall and back," her son added. "It wasn't even close to what I was going through. So it was easy to push through it every day, when I thought about from that point of view."

George goes on to say that playing in the Olympics signifies "closing a chapter on this whole rehab" and talks about how much it would mean for him to return to Indiana with a gold medal. You can watch the entire NBC Olympics feature in George's tweet, which is embedded above.