Gasol's communication the key to game-winning play against Pacers

“I anticipated that Paul George was going to deny him and overplay him, so the inbounds pass was going to be tough directly from Doug,” said Gasol. “So I talked to Doug and said, ‘If they overplay him, deny him. I’m going to be open at the top and then I’m going to make the play.’ Doug was alert because we talked.”

“I was going to shoot it if I didn’t see the opportunity to throw that pass,” said Gasol. “That was a secondary option. I anticipated Paul denying Jimmy. Right when the ball gets inbounded you probably (on defense) relax for that half second. It was enough for Jimmy to have the lead and me to throw that pass and be effective. If they would have taken that away, then I would have had to stick that shot. I saw the opportunity. I wasn’t having a great offensive game or a very sharp shooting night (four of 14). I was aware of that.”