The 5 Best Pacers Games of the Year
Guess Who’s Back?
Indiana 112, Miami 89 – April 5, 2015
How do you sum up the return of a one of the best two-way players in the league? How do you capture the emotional resonance of a player overcoming a tragic injury? How do you recount the importance of a comeback by a player who owns the heart of every fan in the city?
You can’t do anything, really, but sit back and enjoy the show.
I’m talking about, of course, the return of Paul George.
Since suffering the devastating injury to his right leg in August, fans from all across the globe have been waiting for PG24 to return.
Unfortunately, they will never see that player again.
No, they’ll get PG13.
With 5:33 left in the first quarter, Paul George entered from the scorer’s table dawning the #13 jersey that has become his new trademark. In 15 minutes off the bench, George scored 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting while adding 2 boards and 2 assists.
While Indiana held a comfortable lead throughout, George helped seal the deal in the fourth when he made two 3-pointers before exiting the game for good to raucous applause.
Lost in the entire PG hubbub, however, were the performances of Luis Scola, Solomon Hill, and C.J. Miles.
Scola came off the bench to finish with 23 points and 12 rebounds, a major help to the starters who didn’t all perform to the highest of standards – except Miles and Solomon Hill.
Solo isn’t a rookie anymore, but it felt like he is at times because the only actual rookie who got minutes this season was Damjan Rudez — and he is 28-years-old. That day though, Solo played like a vet, racking up 19 points and 6 boards on 6-for-10 shooting, including 3-5 from deep. C.J. Miles also dropped 17 points on the strength of 5 triples. Though the return of PG was the top priority, these guys definitely deserve some of the credit in the win.
Still, it difficult to put into words what a player like Paul George means to the Pacers, to the state of Indiana, and to fans around the world. His unexpected rise to stardom is the reason the team was a title contender for the past two years.
And though he still has a lot of rust to shake off, his triumphant return was the biggest spark of hope that the Pacers can make it back to those heights again soon.
Yes, Paul George’s return was great for everybody that night — except, of course, the Miami Heat.
Next: The 10 Best Coaches in Pacers History
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