5 takeaways from the Indiana Pacers sweeping the Warriors

2. Paul George was not the leader this team needed

Not trying to be a hater here, but the juxtaposition in leadership styles from Paul George and Victor Oladipo is so vast that it’s hard not to talk about. For years, Pacer nation looked to Paul George for leadership when guys like Roy Hibbert and David West were keys to several deep playoff runs… each of which inevitably fell to LeBron’s teams.

While losing to a historic great like LeBron James can be hardly placed just on Paul George, the fact is Paul George played so much worse than Oladipo did against the Warriors in his last two seasons in Indiana, the difference that led to this year’s sudden success was clearly the swap of stars.

For instance, in January of 2016, George allowed Stephen Curry to drop a triple-double while PG went for 12 points in 31 minutes, connecting on a weak 5-of-15 shots and ending with a -15 plus/minus.

In December of the same year, the Pacers got utterly blown out by the Warriors, ultimately losing by 36 points and letting them tally an embarrassing 142 points. In 31 minutes of action, Paul George had an equally embarrassing -33 plus/minus.

All the while, he was pleading to bolt town to go to the Los Angeles Lakers. Paul George is an elite second option, but unlike Victor Oladipo, he is not an alpha dog. That’s for sure.