More boos than buckets, but George still has last laugh
INDIANAPOLIS — Paul George struggled on homecoming night.
He still left town with the crown.
On a night the four-time All-Star was repeatedly booed and couldn’t seem to make a shot, he finally sunk two free throws with 10.7 seconds left on Wednesday to seal Oklahoma City’s 100-95 victory at Indiana.
“Yeah, I’m happy this circus is over with. Everybody can move on,” George said. “I understood what the environment was going to be, so it wasn’t a surprise.”
Everything from finding the visiting locker room to
Scoreboard
dealing with the fans was different, and it seemed to take a toll.
George went 3 of 14 from the field, 2 of 7 on 3-pointers, had two rebounds and four turnovers. But spurned fans who are still upset George’s camp went public with his free-agent intentions last summer made sure the box score was the most pleasant part of George’s night.
When he first walked onto the court for warmups, one fan shouted: “Traitor!” During player introductions, the boos reached a crescendo and every time he touched the ball, the boos returned with full force.
The only cheers came when George made a mistake or drew a foul.
Fortunately, George’s friends helped him out.
Steven Adams finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds while reigning MVP Russell Westbrook recorded his ninth triple-double of the season — 10 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists.
And when George came up with the final steal of the game, he pumped his arms and his teammates savored the moment as much as he did.
“I thought he had incredible poise tonight,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “Everybody was asking how is he and I hadn’t really noticed anything different. I thought his defense — certainly on the side out of bounds play — was really critical for us.”
The trade for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis was widely panned as below market value, but has turned out pretty well so far for the Pacers.
Oladipo led Indiana with 19 points and nearly brought them all the way back from an 11-point deficit with 5:16 left. The Pacers got to 96-94 with 1:07 to go and had a chance to tie it when they got the ball with 15.2 seconds left and down 98-95.
Instead, George came up with the steal and made the free throws to seal the win, silence the crowd, end the Pacers’ four-game winning streak and leave town as the king of the night.
“That team showed us that when you’re playing against these elite teams, it’s going to be a physical game and we didn’t match that tonight,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said.