LeBron to Paul George: ‘Glad to have you back’

The Indiana Pacers lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Ohio yesterday. More important than the outcome of one matchup in an 82-game season, however, the Pacers showed that they can hang with the league’s best.

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The biggest caveat here is that Kyrie Irving didn’t play, and it’s also worth noting that LeBron James has an injured quad. But the Pacers were also without two key guys, C.J. Miles and Rodney Stuckey, so neither team was at optimal strength.

The Pacers actually even took a late lead, going up 90-88 on a Monta Ellis 3-pointer with about 4 minutes to play. Unfortunately, Cleveland has LeBron and Indiana doesn’t, so the Pacers were unable to out-do The King, who scored or assisted on 11 of his team’s final 13 points. Indiana’s execution late was lacking, and Paul George’s last-ditch effort to make a 3-pointer to cut into a 4-point margin proved fruitless.

After that miss, however, LeBron made sure to approach the player who has arguably been his biggest personal rival over the past half-decade. “Glad to have you back,” said LeBron, hitting Paul George in the chest. “Missed you, boy.”

Perhaps the two best players in the Eastern Conference, LeBron and Paul George have a deep respect for one another.

They are both top-tier two-way talents who can do almost anything on the court. LeBron is in his own world, but few have challenged him as much over the last few years, with PG’s Pacers coming up short three straight years against LeBron’s Heat before George was forced to miss last season with a broken leg.

Their battles have always been hard-fought and took on a new level after one of the greatest sequences we’ve seen in the NBA playoffs in recent memory.

Paul George blew by LeBron then threw down a vicious dunk on Birdman Chris Anderson. It was, and still is, the signature moment of PG’s career and came at a time when it looked like the Pacers just might be on their way to finally beating the Heat in the playoffs.

Seconds later, LeBron James responded, ending a quarter with a deep 3-point shot.

Then came the moment of respect, with LeBron offering up The Dap heard round the world. Before this, Paul George believed he belonged alongside guys like LeBron, Kevin Durant, and Chris Paul. After this, he knew he did — and LeBron showed him he knew it, too.

This was back when Paul George wore number 24 and James sported a 6 on his back. But even if each has changed his jersey since then, everything else felt the same.

Pacers fans are of course disappointed with the outcome in all those series against Miami. The same goes for the result yesterday, even as Paul George out-produced this more famous rival.

But win, lose, or draw, it was great to see these two battling again in what felt like a postseason game — at least on the side of the Pacers, which missed on the playoffs last year.

On a Sunday afternoon, Paul George faced off against LeBron for the first time since before the horrific injury that threatened to derail the career of a 24-year-old who looked to be on a Hall of Fame trajectory.

He didn’t get the win.

But PG did outplay his rival and, after a breakout game on Friday vs. that Heat franchise that had ended his past three seasons, managed to score 30 points or more in back-to-back games for just the second time in his career.

Paul George is back, ladies and gentlemen.

Oh, yes. Paul George is most definitely back.