On the list of things wrong with Indy Paul George’s offense is near the top. The Pacers are struggling to score points, and George is a shell of his former self. At the beginning of the year, he looked like he could be the top scorer on an NBA champion. Through December 31, George was making 46 percent of his midrange jumpers — better than Chris Paul. He was hitting 41 percent of his 3s — better than Kevin Durant. And he was making 60 percent of his shots inside 8 feet — better than Kevin Love and Tim Duncan. He was a machine.
Unfortunately, things have changed. Since January 25, his numbers have plummeted and George has morphed into a mediocre NBA scorer. The slumping Paul George is converting only 45 percent of his shots inside 8 feet — worse than Ricky Rubio. He’s making only 37 percent of his midrange jumpers — worse than Michael Carter-Williams. His 3-point percentage is down to 34 percent; that’s worse than Josh Smith! Ha-ha. Just kidding, it’s not that horrendous. But it’s still worse than Jeremy Lin.
Although it’s tempting and potentially accurate to pin this decline on “off-the-court” distractions, it’s also important to remember that the Pacers’ offense has never been dominant, and NBA defenses often figure out ways to make average offensive systems look even worse.
