Nik Stauskas may never fully recover from this Paul George crossover
Paul George has been phenomenal for the Indiana Pacers to start the 2015-16 season, his first full season since his horrific knee injury suffered while playing for USA Basketball. He’s looked like a player getting back to his superstar form in every aspect, which includes making defenders look absolutely ridiculous.
On Wednesday night as the Pacers faced off with the Philadelphia 76ers, George was leading a one-on-three fast break up the floor with Nik Stauskas coming out to meet him on the wing. Rather than pull up and let his teammates catch up, PG-13 hesitated and then attacked Stauskas with a mean crossover that sent Nik Stauskas to the floor:
Stauskas isn’t a guy really known for his defense, but this is a whole other level. He looks like a sniper in the Wells Fargo Center took him out after George crossed him up. Maybe George should take it a little easier on Stauskas and Philly; they’ve been through enough torture on the hardwood.
It’s incredibly refreshing to see George back and playing at this level once again. When he suffered the compound fracture in his leg, there were legitimate worries that he would never be the same player again. He’s putting all of those worries to rest, though, and Nik Stauskas just happened to be the latest victim of that.