A Huge Boost For The Pacers

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Paul George

After going 56-26 last season with a second consecutive trip to the Eastern Conference Finals, you knew that things would be different this time around for the Indiana Pacers. Last summer while participating as a member of the United States Men’s Basketball Team, Pacers small forward Paul George suffered a compound fracture in his right leg in a gruesome on-court incident. The crowd that witnessed George’s injury firsthand at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas looked on in shock while fans of the Pacers were devastated. George has led the Pacers in scoring for the past two seasons and he was emerging as one of the premier players in the NBA. Following a successful surgery George has been vigorously rehabbing his leg and while some people expected him to not play this season, but he plans to begin practicing with the Pacers at the beginning of March with an eye on making his season debut in the middle of that month.

Without George, the Pacers are 21-33. but they play in the weak Eastern Conference and thus they are only two games behind both Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat for the final playoff spot in the conference.

https://d13csqd2kn0ewr.cloudfront.net/uploads/image/file/96693/w640xh480_USPW_528003.jpg?ts=1423165893We don’t what kind of physical impact that George will be able to have on the basketball court for the Pacers, but he will definitely give them an emotional impact. This season Pacers power forward David West is leading the team in scoring at just 13.1 points per game. Overall the Pacers are 23rd in scoring at 95.8 points per game as they are dire need of an offensive boost. Last season George averaged 21.7 points per game for the Pacers. You cannot expect those numbers from George immediately upon his return as Pacers head coach Frank Vogel will definitely monitor his minutes.

George is undoubtedly the Pacers franchise player and his determination to return to the court so quick after suffering that horrific injury is showing his character and this is one of the qualities that is making him a leader for Indiana.

After losing seven games in a row last month, the Pacers won six of their last nine games heading into the NBA All-Star break to inch closer to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. I don’t foresee Pacers president Larry Bird making any moves before next week’s trade deadline in the NBA and George’s imminent return will act just like a trade acquisition for Indiana.

With multiple games against the Philadelphia 76ers and New York Knicks respectively on their slate over the next few weeks, the Pacers must take advantage of these bottom feeders. The Pacers have upcoming games against some of the top dogs in the NBA such as the Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls as they will look to stay in playoff contention. The Pacers have come this far without George and at this point there is no turning back. George’s return to the Pacers will make them a better team as aside from being the team’s top scorer, he is also one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA.

The race for the postseason just got more interesting in the Eastern Conference as the Pacers are about to be taken off of life support.

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By | 2015-02-14T18:47:22+00:00 February 14th, 2015|Categories: National Basketball Association|Tags: , |0 Comments

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