Game 1 ECF: Paul George Great, LeBron James Better

The Game Winner (Associated Press photo)

Remember how I advocated that the Eastern Conference Finals would be better than advertised? Well after Game 1, guess who's right.

Paul George continued to come of age as the Palmdale native hit big shot after big shot, none bigger than his 32-foot, 3-pointer to force overtime. If there's a doubt why he was voted Most Improved Player, he erased them by stepping up.

Was that first 3-point shot lucky? A little bit but a good shot is a good shot. No more lucky than having the presence of mind to shoot a 3 in overtime with D-Wade draped all over him. He was 2.2 seconds away from being the hero after sinking three free throws to give Indiana the lead.

And yet, it wasn't enough. It was like Craig Ehlo feeling happy about this, before this happened. Just like Ehlo, George just had to play defense. Instead, he over-committed and became a footnote in the latest chapter of LeBron James' greatness.

A Crazy Thought: Indiana-Miami Will Be Great

Call me crazy but I think Miami-Indiana is going to be a great Eastern Conference Final. Just based off how surprising the Pacers were last year against the Heat and how much better they look now.

Then again, I haven't been able to look at the Pacers the same way since the Lakers beat them on the road minus Kobe during the regular season. If there's a team remaining that has more fool's gold, I'm not sure who it is.

At the same time, the Pacers' ugly style (which led to them having the No. 1 defense in the league) has started to look better. Roy Hibbert is a legit center who can cause problems in the paint. Lance Stephenson is starting to fulfill the promise he had as a NYC hoops legend. Paul George is validating why he's an All-Star as the team's leader and an emerging go-to scorer (in spots).