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George: Saying I was criticizing teammates is 'complete ignorance'

Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports / Action Images

Paul George was outspoken and blunt in his postgame pressers after Games 1 and 2 of the Indiana Pacers' first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and some took his comments as shots against his teammates.

After the Pacers lost Game 1 on a missed C.J. Miles jumper at the buzzer, George insisted he should've been the one to get the last shot. After they lost Game 2, he said Lance Stephenson needed to learn to keep his emotions in check. But George chafed at the notion that he was passing the buck and throwing his teammates under the bus.

"It's complete ignorance, to be honest," George told reporters ahead of Thursday's Game 3. "Everybody knows how close I am with my teammates, and I said that only to motivate my teammates to win this series and win a championship. I didn't say anything even close to throwing them under the bus. If I didn't say nothing, it would have been another story."

It might not have been as big a story had George not been calling out the team's effort throughout the season, but to his point, Miles effectively defended George's comments (though he affirmed his own decision to take the last shot in Game 1), and Stephenson acknowledged that yes, he can do a better job reining things in.

Pacers head coach Nate McMillan also stood by George.

"In situations like that, our guys are free to speak and talk about situations like that," McMillan said. "You challenge your guys, your teammates. We believe in each other, we trust in each other and it was not a situation like there were hurt feelings in the locker room."

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