Doyel: That was Paul George's shot

CLEVELAND – Paul George was angry. That final shot against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday? That shot belonged to him.

Don’t tell me: But he passed the ball! Right. I saw him pass the ball too. But I’m telling you, the Indiana Pacers had the last shot in their 109-108 playoff loss Saturday to Cleveland – and George wanted to shoot it. He thought there was enough time, thought he’d get the ball back after passing it to C.J. Miles, thought he’d rise up for the shot and then …

Well, no sense wondering what might have been. Here’s the way it was:

George is being doubled at the top of the key, 35 feet from the basket. He passes to Miles on the left wing and follows his pass, charging toward Miles with both hands up. He wants the ball back. There are five seconds left.

But there goes Miles the other way, dribbling once, twice. George is still coming, still has both hands in the air. Miles is shot-faking Cavs forward Richard Jefferson past him, and now George is cutting to the rim.

The clock shows about 2.5 seconds left when Miles goes up from 19 feet. George is coasting in the lane as Miles’ shot bounces of the rim. George’s knees buckle. He claps his hands angrily once, then twice, then spins and starts walking toward the locker room.

He’s alone at the opposite baseline, almost gone, when his head bounces one time and a single curse word comes out.

Then he tells C.J. Miles what I’ve already told you: That was Paul George’s shot.

"I talked to C.J. about that,” George was saying about an hour after the game. “In situations like that, I've got to get the last shot.”

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This was George being a leader in full, calling for the last shot and calling out his teammates, saying what they could have done better – saying they have to know better – but criticizing himself as well.

George is sitting alone at the podium, wearing a black velour jacket with purple accents. He has just sat down, just let out an exaggerated sigh. He cannot get that final sequence out of his head. This is the life of an NBA star: The opponent doesn’t want you to win the game.

“Make someone else shoot it,” is how LeBron James explained what the Cavaliers did Saturday to Paul George. “Live with the results.”

James has been that guy so many times, the guy with the ball in his hands and two defenders in his face and the decision to make. And always he decides to make what is considered the right basketball play. Always he passes it.

“If I get doubled, I’m giving it up,” LeBron said. “You get doubled, we all know math in here. Two guys on the ball leaves four (Pacers) on three (Cavaliers). You have your best player on the floor. Doesn’t mean (George) has to take the shot. I think he made the right play, and got to live with the results.”

Yeah, no. Paul George wasn’t living with the results after this one. He was shooting it too well, going 6-of-8 on 3-pointers during his 29-point game Saturday, to not get one more shot. He received plenty of help from Lance Stephenson (16 points, seven rebounds, three assist) and just enough support from Jeff Teague (15 points), Myles Turner (11) and Monta Ellis (11) to give the Pacers a chance to steal a game – and the home-court advantage – in a series nobody expects them to win.

The Cavaliers have been stumbling, but they’re still the Cavaliers. They have LeBron (32 points, 13 assists) and Kyrie Irving (23 points, six assists) and Kevin Love (17 points) and all those glorious role players. The Pacers have Paul George and …

Well, what does it say about a team when its second most essential player (Stephenson) wasn’t even here for the first 76 games? It says they don’t have a chance against LeBron and Co.

But the Pacers had a chance.

“We let one get away,” Pacers coach Nate McMillan said.

Yes, they did. The ball was in their hands – in Paul George’s hands – in the final seconds of a one-point loss. It was that close because of George, of course. He’s the one who crossed halfcourt with 42 seconds left and the Pacers trailing 109-105 and launched a 32-footer. Because he was that hot. The ball went in, as five of his previous seven from 3-point range had done, to get the Pacers within 109-108.

After James missed with 20 seconds left, George wanted one more shot. But everyone screwed it up, George was saying, starting with himself. The Cavs had already doubled him a few seconds earlier, doubled him before committing a foul they had freely to give with 10.5 seconds left.

“We should have known that was coming,” George said, referring to the Cavs’ next double team. “They did it before. … Right there that should have been a trigger, but I didn’t see it.”

No, George didn’t look prepared when LeBron doubled him with seven seconds left. George says that was the first mistake. The second mistake was Lance Stephenson calling for the ball under the basket, when George says the Cavs “were baiting me to throw that.” Stephenson, George says, should have run to the free throw line.

“That would have been the ballgame there,” George was saying, "but ..."

But Stephenson didn’t get there in time, leaving George to look elsewhere. To Miles.

It was all happening fast, so terribly fast, the clock saying different things to different guys. It was telling George he had time to pass it and get it back, but it was telling Miles he didn’t have time for anything but a shot.

And then the clock was showing zeroes, telling all of them the same thing.

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