Paul George hopes to be missing piece on playoff-hopeful Pacers
Paul George may not play this season, despite his best efforts to aggressively rehab the leg injury that has kept him sidelined for the entire 2014-15 campaign to date. But if he does, George envisions himself having a major role on the adversity-stricken Indiana Pacers team that refuses to quit.
The Pacers have missed George, the team's best player and two-time All-Star, all season. Underrated point guard George Hill has missed more than half the season and fellow starter David West was out for nearly the entire first month. But somehow – a weak Eastern Conference helps – Indiana enters Saturday as the No. 8 seed.
A healthy George, who returned to practice a little over a week ago but is still without a firm timetable, could make the 2014 East finalists a difficult first-round assignment.
"That's how I see the whole picture playing out, me being the missing piece and healthy and full strength and the freshest out of the group going into the most important part of our season, the playoffs," George told the Indianapolis Star. "If I can make an appearance and start rolling leading into the playoffs, the story will write itself."
A win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday extended the Pacers' winning streak to four games and improved their record to 10-2 since the start of February.
They've achieved the recent success by getting it done on both ends of the floor. The Pacers have the league's fourth-most efficient offense over that stretch and the second-best defense next to the Utah Jazz.
There are six teams fighting for the final two playoff spots in the East and none are playing as well as the Pacers, who have 21 games remaining.