In the end George did his job. When Game 6 ended Saturday night in Indianapolis with the Pacers advancing to the next round and the Knicks staggering back to New York Anthony approached George at midcourt congratulated him and patted him on the head an affectionate acknowledgment of the toughness and poise the 23 year old George had displayed for 40 plus minutes a game with so much riding on the outcome.
And the Pacers expressed their appreciation too. As a reward for his determined efforts against Anthony George will be asked to keep LeBron James the league s most valuable player at bay when the Pacers and the Heat begin the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday night in Miami.
Anthony. James. At least the Pacers are not asking George to fly the team plane from Indianapolis to Miami. But what he will be asked to do against James considered the most complete player in the N.B.A. is to keep him just a little farther from the basket to keep him out of the lane and to lower the number of shots he takes from eight feet or less where he has shot 68 percent (52 of 76) in the postseason.
You ve got to try to eliminate all the easy stuff George said when asked about defending first Anthony and now James whose Heat had won eight of their nine postseason games going into Wednesday s matchup against the Pacers.
To do that George will rely at least in part on his height. An unheralded first round pick out of Fresno State in the 2010 draft he is listed at 6 feet 8 inches but is closer to 6 10. He uses that length to contest shots and his athleticism to stay close to whomever he is defending.
George a swingman who plays shooting guard and small forward has developed into a reliable scorer for the Pacers averaging 17.4 points a game in the 2012 13 regular season. But defense is where he has made his mark.
I think that s where I really like to stand out and be special because it s fun the crowd loves it and I get energy off of it George said.
George did not think much about defense as a youngster when he was playing basketball in his hometown Palmdale Calif. He wanted to be a mix of Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady which is to say he wanted to be an offensive player.
As a senior in high school he was 6 7 and thin. Still he wanted to play on the perimeter. But most of the college coaches who recruited him wanted to make him a power forward. In the end he decided to play at Fresno State. When he showed up on campus the coach Steve Cleveland gave him an ultimatum if you want to play on the perimeter you better learn how to defend smaller quicker players.
I said Paul one of the biggest challenges you re going to have is you re going to be defending guys who are 6 2 6 3 said Cleveland who is now a broadcast analyst.
To his credit he really started to develop his body. He got stronger quicker and he had determination defensively said Cleveland who added He wanted to play the perimeter so badly that he was willing to do anything.
Fresno State did not reach the N.C.A.A. tournament with George. It even had a losing record in George s sophomore season his last at the university.
The Pacers however saw how George could fit their philosophy especially on defense. So on June 24 2010 they drafted him with the 10th overall pick. The initial reaction from Pacers fans was bewilderment or worse. Pacers fans at Madison Square Garden for the draft booed when his selection was announced.
It was like that amongst the whole city when I got here George said of his arrival in Indianapolis. Nobody really knew who I was.
But three years later the fans in Indiana love the player George has become.
As a rookie he guarded the Chicago Bulls Derrick Rose in the first round of the playoffs. Last year he tried his best to limit James and Dwyane Wade as the Pacers fell to Miami in the second round.
Not long after that series which went six games George joined the United States select team a group of N.B.A. players who scrimmaged in Las Vegas against the N.B.A. veterans on the national team helping prepare them for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
A Pacers assistant coach Brian Shaw who has mentored George the last two years told him to watch James Anthony and Bryant at those scrimmages and learn their tendencies.
Watch their intensity on offense. Watch their focus. Watch which spots on the floor they like to shoot from. To be successful on defense Shaw said to George he needed knowledge.
In the end George guarded the N.B.A. s biggest stars for six consecutive days. It was an invaluable experience he said.
Competing against those guys and being around them you kind of understand their style of play George said.
Knicks Coach Mike Woodson who was in Las Vegas at that time to watch Anthony and Tyson Chandler said he kept noticing George s defense in practice.
I was really impressed with him Woodson said.
Last Saturday Woodson was watching again as George went up against Anthony. Although Anthony scored 35 points in the first 36 minutes George never flinched. And in the fourth quarter he prevailed.
Anthony scored only 4 points in that final quarter and George also helped force him into several turnovers.
You have to give him credit Anthony said afterward.
George is happy to accept it. But now comes James.
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