Paul George quickly moved up from the baseline. After using a screen to briefly shake Chen Xi, he took a handoff from Harden, changed direction, and launched into a drive, his quick steps carrying him straight into the Thunder's paint.
In just a few strides, he reached a spot one step inside the free-throw line, then abruptly stopped, gathered the ball, and put up a short floater.
The ball sailed over Davis's fingertips and smoothly dropped through the net.
Paul George!
He was still putting on a star-level scoring performance.
His hot start had made his offensive form look very promising.
As the floater went in, the handful of Nets fans who had made it to the arena didn't hold back their cheers.
Their deep-black Nets jerseys stood out as eye-catching accents in the sea of blue around them.
Come to think of it, after the Nets' superteam officially came together, George might have been the one who benefited the most.
After all, Harden and Durant had already amassed enormous fan bases.
By comparison, George's following clearly couldn't match either of theirs.
For one thing, the Pacers didn't draw that much attention, and in recent years, George hadn't put up any particularly outrageous or explosive numbers.
Especially with a cheater across the way constantly making headlines and breaking records.
So George naturally didn't get much attention.
The Pacers' record during those years hadn't been very good, either.
Thinking about it, that incredible seven-game battle against the Miami Heat's Big Three had happened nearly a decade ago.
That was long enough for some fans to forget Paul George altogether.
If they heard his name, their impressions might still be limited to "the guy in the background," "played a Game 7 against the Heat," "the three small forwards scored 125 combined," and