Pacers All-Star Weekend Round-up

The Indiana Pacers participated in three events at the 2013 All-Star Weekend in Houston.

First of all, Paul George proved why he was a lognshot to win the 3-point comp with a contest-low 10 points out of a possible 30, including a rare air ball. Not to say George isn't a killer shooter, but it's not his type of competition. Kyrie Irving won, by the way, which was unexpected, at least for me.

Secondly, Gerald Green bombed out of the dunk comp after trying a dunk that was too difficult, even for the former champ. Following a perfect 50 from a double pump reverse alley-oop off the side of the backboard (courtesy of a Lance Stephenson pass), Green tried to dunk the ball with his right hand, catch it immediately under the rim with his left, and stuffing it through again, all in one motion. It proved too difficult, and Green ran out of time, finishing with just a 32. Of course, he completed the dunk on the first try immediately after that. If he had made it through to the final, Green would have attempted a double alley-oop windmill with the assistance of Lance Stephenson and Paul George.

In all, it was a lackluster dunk comp. There were some good dunks (Green's first and a few from winner Terrence Ross and runner up Jeremy Evans) but still too many misses. The main problem, apart from the lack of star power, is that we have seen too many dunks over the years and something really special is needed to impress us. But the higher the difficulty, the less chance of completing the dunk, which is why there are so many misses these days.

Last but not least it was Paul George in the main event, the All-Star Game. After a slow start, George finished with a Pacers NBA record 17 points to lead all reserves. The East would lose 143-138, but George kept them close at the end with back-to-back threes.

Overall, it was an OK All-Star break for the Pacers. Hopefully Paul George will take his game to the next level after seeing that he can compete with the best of the best. Next up, a huge game against the Knicks. Danny Granger still won't play, but he's close.