Gregg Doyel

gregg.doyel@indystar.com

INDIANAPOLIS – So, this was a weird game for the Indiana Pacers. Another weird game, really, the second in a row where the Pacers’ best two players disappeared when it mattered.

The box score from Monday night isn’t going to reflect that. The box score, which shows the San Antonio Spurs beating the Pacers 110-106 – the box score got that one right – also shows Paul George and Jeff Teague making major contributions, and maybe they did.

Just, not when it was time to win the game.

When it was time to win the game, the people most invested in that sort of thing played for the Spurs. Kawhi Leonard was one such guy, but then, he’s an All-NBA player, a borderline MVP candidate. He showed us why. LaMarcus Aldridge was another player invested. For the Pacers, Monta Ellis was invested. Rodney Stuckey was invested. Kevin Seraphin, of all people, was invested.

Paul George and Jeff Teague? Let me tell you about Paul George and Jeff Teague. I can’t wait to tell you what Pacers coach Nate McMillan said about Paul George and Jeff Teague.

But first, here’s what the box score says about Paul George and Jeff Teague. It says George had 27 points, six rebounds and three assists. Those are All-Star numbers, and George had an All-Star game. You know – a game where winning isn’t the main thing.

The box score says Jeff Teague had 15 points and five assists. Not sure the box score is right about that one. I’d like to put the box score in a hard chair in a dark room, shine a light in its beady little eyes and ask it: Come on, box score, how many points and assists did Jeff Teague really have?

Before I dissect the part of the game that mattered, the only part of an NBA game that ever matters – the fourth quarter – let’s go back to Saturday night. Milwaukee was in town. The Bucks are bad.

George was ineffective. Teague was invisible. It was so odd, what happened Saturday night – George scored 13 points on 11 shots, and had five turnovers; Teague didn’t attempt his first shot until late in the third quarter – that McMillan spent most of his pregame news conference Monday trying to explain it. He couldn’t come up with much, so finally someone in the media asked an easy question:

Would you like to see more aggression tonight from Paul and Jeff?

“Absolutely,” McMillan said before the question was even done. “Abbbbbbbb-solutely.”

Teague’s no-show against Milwaukee needed more explanation. He has played at a borderline All-Star level in recent weeks, but let’s repeat: On Saturday night, the Pacers’ ball-dominant point guard and second-leading scorer didn’t even take a shot until the end of the third quarter. So I asked McMillan, before the game Monday, how such a thing could happen.

“They trapped (Teague on) the pick-and-roll,” McMillan said.

Has he never seen that before? I was asking. McMillan was smiling.

“You were in our conversation? That was my question, too,” he said.

In the locker room before Monday’s game, McMillan told Teague: Teams can’t take you out of the game like that. Not with your speed.

And Teague was so fired up that he, um, had to be reminded at halftime to play faster against an aging Spurs team on the second game of a back-to-back. Teague came out for his usual rest with 2 minutes left in the third quarter, then didn’t get off the bench for most of the fourth quarter. Turns out, Ellis and Stuckey – aging, injury-riddled veterans – were playing with the speed and force McMillan wanted. So he rode the old hands until Stuckey had to come out with 4:08 left.

The Pacers led 97-94.

The wheels fell off. Was that Jeff Teague’s fault? No, not really. The first three quarters are on him. The fourth quarter?

That’s on Paul George.

Bear with me. I know how folks are around here. Some of them are down on George, yes they are, but there’s another whole faction of fans of the belief that Paul George should never be taken to task, not ever, for damn sure not by a short sports writer like me. Plus I’m bald. Plus, Paul George had 27 points, six rebounds and three assists Monday night! And he scored the Pacers’ final six points, all in the final 71 seconds. You’re saying Paul George didn’t meet your standards in the fourth quarter?

Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Now kindly pipe down and let me have the mic again, OK?

Listen to this. Listen carefully. Paul George re-entered the game with 9:19 left and the Pacers leading 85-84. Over the next 7 minutes of an NBA game in the fourth quarter, superstar Paul George attempted exactly …

Zero shots.

None.

Close game. He’s matched up with someone he considers a peer, Kawhi Leonard. When the Spurs have the ball, Leonard is holding it on the baseline, staring into George’s eyes, then drilling a 14-footer. When the Spurs have the ball, Leonard is posting up George and sinking a fadeaway.

When the Pacers have the ball, Paul George is, well, I don’t know what he was doing. He wasn’t doing anything, is my point, not until he picked up his fifth foul and spent a minute on the bench before re-entering the game with 2:05 left and remembering:

Oh, right. This is my team.

By then, the Pacers trail 102-98. George hits a 15-footer to make it 102-100 with 1:11 left.

George hits 1-of-2 free throws with 48.8 seconds left to make it 105-101.

The Spurs score when Tony Parker beats Teague, gets fouled, hits both free throws to make it 107-101. Pacers call timeout. McMillan draws up an inbounds play for George, who executes a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer with 21.3 seconds left.

That’s six points in 50 seconds for George. I’m thinking: Man, is this guy good. I’m also thinking:

Too late, Paul. You got started too late.

But at least he got started. Two games in a row, Teague’s been running in neutral. These are the Pacers' best two players.

Any wonder this team’s going nowhere?

Find IndyStar columnist Gregg Doyel on Twitter at@GreggDoyelStar or atfacebook.com/gregg.doyel.