George blames sickness, not Leonard, for rough shooting night

Candace Buckner | IndyStar

SAN ANTONIO – Paul George said he felt within the flow of the game, thought his shots looked on line, even believed his looks were clear.

"Just wasn't my night," George said. "I couldn't get them to fall."

Then again, George also said he felt ill. Nauseous even. He's been dealing with an upper respiratory infection and instead of missing games, he has played on. But the problem with this perfectly fine excuse, his game looks as if it's ailing too.

On Monday night when the Indiana Pacers lost 106-92 to San Antonio Spurs and fell to 16-11 on the season, George scored a season-low 7 points – the first time he hasn't reached double figures all year. Also, he made just one of his 14 shots – his worst shooting performance after taking 10 or more attempts.

"Even tonight I felt weak," George said. "Felt I was going to throw up at times. It's still hanging around for whatever reason."

While the lingering illness seemed like a plausible justification to George having one of the worst nights of his career, so did the hovering presence of the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Kawhi Leonard.

Leonard matched up against George through the night. They started the game opposite of each other. Then when one moved to scorer's table to check back into the game, the other shuffled in the same direction. But Leonard wasn't alone in defending George because the Spurs play such strong team defense. Near the 3-minute mark of the first quarter when George wanted the baseline against Leonard, Boris Diaw showed a willingness to slide over and take his pathway. So George had to force a bad shot and started the quarter with four straight misses.

In what should have been a delicious pairing of two of the best young small forwards in the game, the matchup favored only one. On the same night the NBA announced Leonard as Western Conference Player of the Week, he scored a game-high 24 points on (10-of-19 shooting), finished with three steals and led the Spurs to a perfect 16-0 record at home.

But as willingly as George blamed his infection for affecting his game, he would not concede defeat to the defensive bugaboo in white and black.

"I mean, I missed some shots I've been making all season long," George said. "I had wide open looks I just couldn't get to go down. Kawhi wasn't even in the play. I just couldn't make them."

Coach Frank Vogel shared the same view.

"It wasn't all Kawhi Leonard," Vogel said. "He got a lot of good looks from 3, good looks in the pull-up game and a lot of those plays where there was contact at the rim and they were letting both teams play. It was a tough night."

• BOX SCORE: Spurs 106, Pacers 92

Compounding George’s struggles, his decision-making led to a game-high 6 turnovers. Over the last three match ups, George has looked shaky as a facilitator in turning the ball over 20 times.

"I'm just doing too much. I feel like I'm forced to do too much right now," George said. "Trying to create, trying to get the offense going, trying to get going for myself, trying to get the ball moving, trying to make plays happen in the game when we're having those dead moments. I'm just trying to find my way through that."

On Saturday, George mentioned a similar challenge in trying to find his way as the locker room leader, a role once belonging to David West. Now a Spur, West played almost 17 minutes against his former team and scored 7 points but his greatest accomplishment might have been limiting C.J. Miles, who did not start in favor of a true big Lavoy Allen. In the second quarter when the Pacers played with four wings, West drew two fouls on Miles and sent him to bench after only 9 minutes played through the first half.

West has fit in to a Spurs team eyeing a championship run. Besides owning the second-best overall record, the Spurs lead the NBA in defensive efficiency (.922) and hold opponents to only 88.9 points per game, another league best. Even with new faces, the Spurs seem to be moving right along and it’s thanks to their defense.

So what makes the Spurs such a lock-down force?

"They're strong on defense because they're strong on offense," said George Hill, who scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting. "You have to play defense for only 24 seconds but you feel like you have to play for 26 seconds because they move the ball so well."

The Pacers, in spite of the defensive collapses earlier in the month, still allow only 98.5 points a game (seventh best in the NBA), and so through the first half they formed a wall just as dense as the Spurs. Though San Antonio opened a 10-point lead in the second quarter, the Pacers recovered through a strong defensive stretch, forcing four straight blown possessions (missed shots and a turnover) before taking their first lead with George Hill draining a corner 3 with 2:29 remaining.

By halftime the Spurs moved back ahead for the 50-48 advantage and the teams, at least statistically, appeared even. But soon the Spurs would distance themselves from the Pacers just by following Leonard’s lead.

In the third quarter, Leonard hit 5-of-7 shots for 11 points while still making life tough for George on the other end. Near the end of the quarter, West blocked Hill and started a transition opportunity with Leonard leading the break. Now showing his capable playmaking skills, Leonard delivered a pass to Danny Green, who was trailing then spotting up beyond the arc for the 3. The Spurs opened a 79-70 lead and remained in front the rest of the game.

"We were right there," Vogel said. "We believe we can beat this team. We played that way and stood toe-to-toe with them but just couldn't get over the hump in the end."

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Follow Star reporter Candace Buckner on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.

Kings at Pacers, 7 p.m. Wednesday, FSI