George willing to play all 48 minutes in Game 6

The Indiana Pacers' best hope for a series comeback victory against the Toronto Raptors is a steady diet of Paul George. The forward knows that, and on Thursday he was asked by a reporter if he was willing to play all 48 minutes facing elimination in Friday's Game 6.

"If that's the direction that the game is going, I'm all for it," George said, according to ESPN's Nick Friedell. "Whatever we got to do to win, I'm doing it."

George has carried the Pacers all season, and that's something that has continued in the playoffs against Toronto. The 25-year-old is averaging almost 29 points in five games, shooting just under 42 percent from deep.

He tied his playoff career high with 39 points in Game 5, a contest the Pacers lost after blowing a 13-point fourth-quarter lead. Coach Frank Vogel was criticized for some of his offensively-challenged substitution patterns in the game, and the Pacers scored only one point in the 6:55 that George sat.

"Coach is getting a lot of criticism for taking me out," George added. "Both times he took me out we were in the driver's seat looking comfortable. Up 15 and up 13 ... we're supposed to do our job, maintain that lead, extend that lead. We didn't know the game was going to go that direction."

The Raptors allowed only nine points in the fourth quarter and are now poised to win their first postseason series in 15 years with a victory in Indianapolis on Friday night.

The last time George played 48 minutes or more in a game was in an overtime win over the New York Knicks on Nov. 20, 2013.

"That will probably be something that's within the game," George said about if the decision is made between he and Vogel to play a full 48. "I'll go over and tell him. It just depends on how the game is going. I'll go over and talk to him."