Paul George Fouls Out, Struggles in 1st Game vs. Pacers as Thunder Win

Paul George's first game against the Indiana Pacers could not have gone worse from an individual perspective.

Luckily for George, things no longer hinge only on his individual brilliance.

Russell Westbrook recorded his second triple-double of the season, and Carmelo Anthony added a double-double, as the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled away in the second half of their 114-96 win over Indiana on Wednesday.

George, who battled foul trouble throughout, finished with 10 points. He played in just 19 minutes before fouling out in the fourth quarter. The All-Star forward will return to Indiana for the first time Dec. 13.

"It'll be emotional from a standpoint of it's an organization that I started with, had a wonderful journey with, that I had seven unbelievable years with," George told reporters before the game.

The Thunder effort, as it has been for most of the early season, was instead led by Westbrook and Anthony. The reigning league MVP finished with 28 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds. Ten of his 16 assists came as part of a brilliant first half where he set up Thunder players on a series of smart passes near the basket.

Anthony had his best game in Oklahoma City with a 28-point, 10-rebound performance. He's scored 20-plus points in all four games this season and finally broke out of his uncharacteristic rebounding slump—along with a few of his patented NSFW screams heard on the camera.

Victor Oladipo, who was acquired with Domantas Sabonis in exchange for George, led all scorers with 35 points. He's scored at least 20 points in four of the Pacers' first five games and has been thriving in a primary scorer's role.

Aside from Oladipo, the Pacers showed none of the offensive fervor from their win over the Minnesota Timberwolves a night earlier. Indiana shot just 33.7 percent from the floor, no starter other than Oladipo hit half of his shots and the offense was largely reliant on quick whistles from the officiating crew. The Pacers shot 35 free throws to Oklahoma City's 26, and officials called 50 fouls for the game.

Darren Collison was second on the team with 18 points.

Sabonis, who entered riding high off consecutive double-doubles, finished with four points and 11 rebounds on 1-of-9 shooting. Foul trouble limited him to 19 minutes.

Steven Adams dominated his former teammate on the inside, as he scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds—seven of which came on the offensive end. The Thunder hauled in 16 offensive rebounds as a team, which were responsible for 14 second-chance points.

Oklahoma City never trailed in the second half and led by as many as 20 points.

The Thunder will get a chance to bounce back from Sunday's last-second loss to the Timberwolves when they travel to Minnesota on Friday.

The Pacers host the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.