Ellis, George duo has potential for Pacers

For a moment, Paul George and Monta Ellis teased us.

It was the fourth game of the preseason; the Indiana Pacers were running an offensive set in the first quarter against the Detroit Pistons. George flipped the ball to Ellis, who was standing above the right arc, then turned the corner on a screen set by Ian Mahinmi. George saw nothing but space between him and the rim. Ellis recognized the same thing. So Ellis lofted the ball, a pass targeted for the sweet spot a few inches ahead of the rim. George, taking flight from just below the foul line, finished the play with an exclamation point.

The play — from the initial handoff to George slamming home the alley-oop pass — lasted only three seconds and delightfully represented a what-may-come preview for the 2015-16 season with the duo of Ellis and George.

“When we got Monta, I knew it was going to take a lot of pressure off me to start out,” George said. “Especially coming back (from injury) and then having the guys that we had leave. I knew it was going to take immediate pressure off me that I don’t have to create as much or exert myself too much.”

During the seven-game preseason, the Pacers shot roughly 43 percent. But there were signs of offensive potency: The team averaged 103 points as well as executing plays like that Ellis-George highlight on Oct. 13.

“We have another ball handler, another creator, another scorer, another defender,” George said about the addition of Ellis. “So it was an extension of me, just in a smaller version.”

George couldn’t help but laugh at his last statement; after all, Ellis has panache as a 6-foot-3 veteran guard but anywhere outside of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, he would look like an everyman in baggy basketball shorts. Still, Ellis has stature in the NBA as a scorer, averaging 19 points per game over the past two seasons for a competitive and talented Dallas Mavericks teams. He has the scoring skill and reputation, but Ellis does not get enough credit for being a playmaker.

“In Dallas, I thought he really took off and was just setting everybody up instead of setting himself up,” said Orlando Magic assistant Mario Elie, who was the coach/mentor for Ellis during his 2005-06 season with the Golden State Warriors.

“(With Golden State) his mentality was to score and he felt the NBA was about scoring, but it’s about making teammates better,” Elie said. “As he matured, he started realizing when he comes off screens, defenses know he’ll pull the mid-range so he’s got to set someone else up.”

This season in the Pacers’ spread offensive look, George and Ellis should create problems for defenses — similar to how Ellis played with the Mavericks during the 2013-15 seasons.

While in Dallas, Ellis looked most impressive in the pick-and-roll game, setting up teammates like Brandan Wright (1.41 points per game as roll man) and Tyson Chandler (1.41 ppg) and both bigs ranked within the top 6 in that category according to statistics on NBA.com.

However, Ellis allied best with future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki, who scored 204 points as the roll man last year, 13th most in the NBA — and those buckets were largely assisted by Ellis. Nearly a quarter of Nowitzki’s passes received came from Ellis, who averaged 8.0 passes to Nowitzki a game. On passes received by Ellis, Nowitzki shot 47 percent on field goals, and 40 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.

Now that he's paired with a more explosive teammate in George, imagine the pick-and-roll possibilities. Consider Ellis and George as a pick-your-poison tandem that the team envisioned during its hot pursuit in free agency.

“We talked about the Paul George fear factor,” Pacers coach Frank Vogel said about the team’s pitch to Ellis. “(George is) the screener and teams and players are not likely to leave him, so you can be aggressive using the pick.”

Last season, Ellis ranked behind only Damian Lillard and Chris Paul for the most points scored as the ball handler (608 points). He also made the lane his home and attempted 187 layups. Even as an opposing coach, Elie can appreciate the opportunities his friend and former player will create in Indiana.

“It’s going to be a nice mix with him and Paul out there and George (Hill), (Rodney) Stuckey. That’s a lot of weapons out there in Indiana that he can work with,” Elie said. “Monta and Myles (Turner) in the pick-and-roll. A big guy like that who can shoot it. Monta can get a lot of easy shots for a guy like that. … The Pacers have a helluva player (in Ellis).”

Inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse, they’ve already gushed over this potential potency.

“I shoot the ball well from the 3-point line, so guys don’t want to switch that,” George said. “They tend to hug up on me, which leaves Monta wide open. With his speed, it’s hard. There are going to be rotations and that’s where C.J. (Miles) and George (Hill) and even Ian (Mahinmi) will benefit most out of our action. So I think me and him being in pick-and-rolls really frees the game up for the other three guys out there.”

As the Pacers embark on this season of inventiveness — new offensive identity, new rotation, new outlook — Ellis just wants to play his part. His playmaking ability in the pick-and-roll game should open up looks for George outside, and the mere presence of George should open up drives for Ellis. This sounds quite simple, for everyone.

“It’s more of a team thing than anything,” Ellis said. “With me and Paul being healthy and being on the floor is going to help a lot but I still think it’s more of a team thing.”

Contact Star reporter Candace Buckner at candace.buckner@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

Season opener: Pacers at Raptors, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, FSI

Home opener: Grizzlies at Pacers, 7 p.m. Thursday, FSI