George provides Pacers with some needed star power

The Pacers moved to 10-1 on the season with a 103-96 overtime victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden Wednesday night.
The Big Picture
It would not have been a complete disaster if the Pacers had lost to the Knicks on the road, but it was good to bounce back after Saturday's loss to the Bulls, a game they were out of after late in the second quarter. The Knicks are off to a slow start, 3-8 now, and they may be questioning a bit just how good they are. So they needed to have a statement game for themselves at home, but the statement was that the Pacers are pretty good. The Knicks were without some key players in Raymond Felton, Tyson Chandler and Amare Stoudemire, so they'll have that excuse to lean on for a while, too. But it's the NBA and nobody feels sorry for you if you're down a player or two or three or however many it might be. The Pacers proved that's just the way it is.
Likes

Paul George has become the star
that the Pacers need in big games.

1) Paul George generally has deserved all of the praise and accolades he has received this season and Wednesday night showed just why. On the big stage in New York City, and on national television, George was at his best during the fourth quarter and overtime periods. The Pacers don't lean on their star player as much as some teams do, but there are some nights when you need that player to step up and George did just that. First there were the three free throws with five seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game, next there was defense on Knicks star Carmelo Anthony on the last shot in regulation, and then there was his performance in overtime, where he scored nine of his 35 points. At the beginning of the season, I didn't think the Pacers would have to have George score 20 or more points to win games. Sure, it would be nice and likely helpful, but not necessarily a good barometer of the team's record. But this will be a statistic worth keeping track of all season: The Pacers are 10-0 when George scores 20 or more points. The Pacers do have balance and other ways to score if George isn't having a big night, but those numbers tell us he's got some star power too, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it may be a good thing, especially come playoff time when the Pacers need a key call late in the game and get it, just like they did Wednesday night.
2) When you are the road team the one name you like to see when the referee's list is released is Joey Crawford. He's a long-time veteran of NBA wars and he knows all the little tricks that players do that either young officials don't see, or maybe, don't have the guts to call in front of the home crowd in the late stages of the game. So, when Crawford called the foul on the Knicks' Iman Shumpert while George was taking a 3-pointer it was without question the right call. That's because Shumpert did the long-time NBA defensive trick of scraping a players' shooting elbow. It's perceived as one of those ticky-tack fouls since it's not a blatant slap or body type of thing. But it definitely effects the shooter's ability to hit a shot and in this case could have directly influenced the outcome of the game. So, no, there's no crying foul on this one for the Knicks. It was the right call.
3) While Paul George was cementing his early season MVP candidacy, the other part of the Pacers G2 combination also had his best game in while. Point guard George Hill had 23 points and while he's not necessarily required to score in the 20s for the Pacers to win, I'm in 100 percent agreement with Pacers coach Frank Vogel here in that the Pacers are better when Hill is active in the offense and a legitimate threat to score. We know Hill is not a selfish player and that he keeps his teammates involved and generally has a good understanding of where they like the ball, where the best matchup may be, and who has a bit of a hot hand. But it's good too when Hill shoots with and plays with confidence. Sure, he would have liked to have hit that late 3-point attempt, and he missed a late free throw, too, but this was his best game since he returned from missing three games due to a hip injury.
Dislikes
1) I guess if you want to have a team outscore you 13-0 at any point in the game, then maybe the start of the game is the best place to let that happen. But the longer that goose egg stays on the scoreboard, the more doubt seeps in. And after the Pacers' offense came up missing in Chicago, it looked like it was going to be one of those nights. Luckily, it was against the Knicks, a team struggling for wins right now, so you know, even they probably doubted their ability to hold onto the lead. But these slows starts are not good habits to have. A 13-0 run, no matter what time of the game it occurs, is difficult to overcome and hopefully the Pacers won't make this kind of start habit-forming.
2) Since Lance Stephenson earned the first triple double of his career three games ago, he's regressed a bit and hit just 12 of 34 shots from the field. Maybe that's to be expected as part of the maturating process in learning how to handle success and the recognition that comes with it. This is not a "'Lance is terrible statement" or anything like that and his effort is obviously still there. Finding a way to re-sign him next year should remain a big priority. But these last three games there have a lot of off balance shots, and some flashy passes that became turnovers and some missed easy shots. He'll be OK, but the Pacers are virtually unbeatable when he plays well.
Afterthoughts
The Pacers didn't really play well in this game. There was the poor start and then the inability to take control of the game once they caught up in the second half. They still seemed a little out of sync and it didn't help that center Roy Hibbert was in foul trouble much of the night. The good part of this though is that good teams, even when they have mediocre nights by their standards, still find a way to win. And to do that, overtime or not, on the road against a Knicks team desperately trying to forge some kind of positive momentum, that in its own odd sort of way, is a good sign of things to come.
Next up
The Pacers are at 4-9 Boston on Friday night, a game by all accounts that they should win. The Celtics traded away the heart of their team in Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in the offseason to the Brooklyn Nets. They do still have point guard Rajon Rondo, but he's still out due to injury. That leaves Jeff Green as the team's leading scorer at 14.8 points per game. The Pacers just need to take care of business here.