After an up-and-down season, Indiana Pacers wing Paul George is playing like a superstar yet again.
When Paul George suffered a compound fracture in his lower right leg while playing with the U.S. national team on Aug. 1, 2014, some wondered if he would ever return to the star status he had made the leap to in the previous season.
Less than two years later, George has been the best player in the entire NBA through the first round.
George is averaging 27.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 45.7 percent from the field and 38.9 percent from deep. His excellent play has been the driving reason why the underdog Indiana Pacers have pushed the Toronto Raptors to a Game 7, to be played Sunday night in Toronto.
George has also returned to his roots as one of the league’s best defensive wings. George’s defensive prowess has been the main reason as to why the Raptors’ regular season leading scorer DeMar DeRozan has struggled offensively in the series.
DeRozan is scoring just 15.8 points (7.7 points below his regular season scoring average) while shooting only 32.1 percent from the field and 15.4 percent on three-pointers.
George’s superb play on both ends of the court has allowed the seventh-seeded Pacers to push the second-seeded Raptors to a deciding Game 7, to be played Sunday night in Toronto.
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While George’s play shouldn’t be surprising given his success before injury, he’s playing at a level that George couldn’t sustain for long periods of time throughout the regular season.
George was phenomenal and appeared to be even better than his pre-injury days in November, when he averaged 29.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 4.3 assists per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 49 percent on three-pointers.
Unfortunately for George and the Pacers, that November hot streak proved to be an outlier compared to his play for the remainder of the season.
George finished the season with averages of 23.1 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game while shooting only 41.8 percent from the field.
While those numbers will likely be good enough to land him on the All-NBA Third Team, it’s not necessarily the numbers representative of a player some consider to be among the best in the league today.
Jon Barry on Paul George: “He’s a top-five player in the NBA."
— 8 Points, 9 Seconds (@8pts9secs) April 30, 2016
That’s why George’s play through the first six games of the first round has been such a breath of fresh air. All season, George has shown glimpses of the play that has him mentioned among the game’s best 5-10 players, but hasn’t been able to sustain that play.
George has dominated in the playoffs more than any other player. He’s tied with Kyrie Irving for the highest scoring average (27.5) in the playoffs. Irving did it in a sweep of the Detroit Pistons against Reggie Jackson, who has a reputation of being a bit of a turnstile defensively.
George has done a heavy chunk of his damage against DeMarre Carroll, who earned a four-year, $60 million contract just a year ago largely for his work on the defensive end.
George has been the best individual player thus far in the playoffs and also has played the best individual game, in a Game 5 loss.
In that devastating loss in which the Pacers blew a 13-point fourth quarter lead, no one could point to George as the cause for the defeat. Instead it shined a light on the subpar play of his supporting cast.
George went off for 39 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and two steals while going 11-of-19 from the field.
His play has caused headaches to the Raptors, as there just isn’t a solution to stopping George when he gets going.
Dwane Casey on rotation: "I was searching for somebody to stop Paul George.”
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) April 16, 2016
With Game 7 looming on Sunday night, it’s worth wondering if George has one more masterpiece left in him to complete the first round upset.
George has played a whopping 38.2 minutes per game throughout the series and will see all of the minutes he can handle with the season on the line.
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There might not be a team in the playoffs that lives or dies on the success of one player like the Pacers do with Paul George. If he can deliver one more game at the superstar level that he’s at right now, George’s play will be the talk of the NBA’s first round and have the Pacers advancing to the second round.