Paul George on atmosphere with Kobe: ‘I thought we was in L.A.’

The latest stop on the Kobe Bryant retirement tour was Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, where with a bum ankle he won his first NBA Championship — 4-2, back in 2000.

Bryant didn’t play great, but he did have a spectacular final stretch. He came in and scored 11 of his 19 points in the final quarter (on 4-of-11 shooting).

He had a special sequence where he hit four shots, including back-to-back-to-back 3s, within one minute and 45 seconds to push the Lakers, who trailed by as many as 17 points, ahead by three.

By then the sellout crowd was on its feet, and a percentage of the fieldhouse was shouting “KO-BE! KO-BE!”

“I thought he was in L.A., that this was a road game,” Paul George said with a smirk afterwards. “He came out and performed late. That’s really what all the fans came to see … for him to make shots like that. For a second, man, it stunned me. I was stunned. It was shot after shot, and the crowd was going crazy.”

About a minute later, Jordan Clarkson fouled George on a 3-point attempt and sent him to the line. George made all three shots.

“The fact (that) I got booed at the free throw line, that’s probably the biggest thing I remember from tonight,” he said.

[Paul George was eager to face Kobe one more time, joked that he’d go for 82]

Down by one point, 84-83, George got the ball after a missed jumper by Bryant and scored at the rim. The Pacers (28-24) took the lead for good, and would hang on for an 89-87 win over the Lakers (11-43).

George joked about his battle with Kobe: “We went 6-for-25 and 6-of-18, we was going at it.”

After the game, Kobe came through the Pacers’ locker room to see Paul, and give him a pair of shoes.

Watch his postgame comments below:

Former Pacer Roy Hibbert missed his first game of the season, sitting out due to a sprained ankle. He had to borrow Myles Turner’s blazer so that he could sit on the bench.