Playing against his childhood idol for the final time, Paul George watched as Kobe Bryant put on a show reminiscent of the ones that made him an NBA icon in the first place. Then, George affirmed his own stardom by countering with a clutch performance of his own.
Bryant scored 11 points in one minute and 45 seconds to give the Lakers a late three-point lead, but George responded by muscling past his idol for a go-ahead and-1 layup to push Indiana to an 89-87 victory.
“For a second, I was stunned,” said George, who had 21 points and nine rebounds.