INDIANAPOLIS -- Paul George insisted a little rest and a new focus would make change everything for the Indiana Pacers. His made sure that prediction came true Sunday. Following the best season of his three-year career, George opened the playoffs by producing the first post-season triple double of his career -- 23 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists -- and led the Pacers out of their late-season funk and past Atlanta 107-90 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series. Suddenly, all those problems ailing the Pacers have been forgotten. "I know what the team will expect from me now," George said. "But, again, I like the pressure" He can expect to be dealing with even more of it in the best-of-seven series. There were plenty of questions after Indiana coach Frank Vogel gave four of his starters -- George, George Hill, Roy Hibbert and David West -- a three-day break this week. The move meant those four came into the opening game without playing a minute since last Sundays loss at New York sealed Indianas fate as the Easts No. 3 seed. Outsiders wondered whether those off-days would rejuvenate the Central Division champs, who looked so good from mid-December through early April, or whether would be rusty after stumbling to five losses in their last seven regular-season games. Those inside the locker room said that the extra rest would be beneficial. Sundays performance left no doubt as fans repeatedly waved the gold towels the Pacers handed out before the game. While George went 3 of 13 from the field, he made his first 17 free throws tying Reggie Millers single-game playoff mark for best percentage. George missed his 18th and final attempt with 2:35 to go. It was about the only thing that went wrong for the All-Star forward who had Indianas first triple double in the playoffs since Mark Jackson on May 13, 1998 against New York. Indiana also has a 1-0 lead for the first time since beating the New Jersey Nets 90-88 in 2006. "It was huge for our confidence," George said. "We got back to playing our style of basketball." George had plenty of help, too. George Hill, who sat out parts of practice Friday and Saturday with an injured left groin, made his first six shots and finished 7 of 10 from the field with three 3-pointers and 18 points. And Roy Hibbert added 16 points and 11 rebounds on a day the Pacers outrebounded Atlanta 48-32 and limited the Hawks to 14 fast-break points. Vogel couldnt have designed a better script. "You have to stick to who you are and play your style of play, which I think we did," Vogel said. "We have to play with passion. When we play with passion and energy on both ends of the court were pretty good. " Atlanta found out the hard way. Indy native Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 21 points and seven assists, while Josh Smith had 15 points and eight rebounds. The only other Atlanta player to reach double figures was Al Horford with 14 points. Most of the Hawks players were upset about the wide free-throw discrepancy. Indiana was nearly flawless from the line (30 of 34), while the Hawks spent most of the second half in foul trouble and made 7 of the 14 free throws they got. "I felt we like earned the opportunity to shoot a little bit more free throws than what we did, but it is what it is," Smith said. "We have to make sure next game that just one player on the opposing team doesnt shoot more than the whole entire team." Coach Larry Drew had bigger concerns. He was disappointed with how the team responded to the calls and with the effort, too. He hopes both will be fixed when the series resumes Wednesday in Indy. "We didnt come up with the big plays, we didnt come up with the hustle plays, the energy plays. I thought right when we were, I believe it was a nine-point game, them shooting a free throw, they come up with the offensive rebound off the free throw, kick it out, swing it around, they get a 3. Thats just getting outworked. They just clearly outworked us." It wasnt a perfect game for Indiana. Again, the Pacers got off to another rocky start by giving up the first six points. But unlike the previous six games when they dug themselves into 20-point deficits in each game, Indiana wasted no time charging back. The Pacers used a 9-0 first-quarter run to take a 19-13 lead, extended it to 34-26 after one and never trailed again. While the Hawks tried valiantly to rally, cutting the deficit to four late in the second quarter and trimming Indianas 15-point lead to eight with 7:23 to go, Indiana never let the Hawks get any closer and eventually pulled away. Just like they were doing in the middle of the season. "We got back to playing our style of basketball," George said. "They came out and hit shots, but what we did a great job of was not letting them string some of those baskets together. We kind of ended their momentum and thats what its going to take." NOTES: The Hawks dropped to 0-3 this season at Indiana but have won 11 straight in Atlanta over the Pacers. ... This is only the fourth time these teams have met in the playoffs. Atlanta holds a 2-1 advantage and won the last post-season matchup 3-2 in 1996. ... Hibbert played with the phrase "B Strong" written on his white shoe Sunday, a message to the people of Boston from the bombings earlier this week. ... The Hawks went home after the game and will practice there Monday and Tuesday before returning to Indy on Wednesday. Andr... Hawkins Jersey . An official of the security department for the province of Buenos Aires, who asked not to be identified, said the traffic accident occurred in the Buenos Aires suburb of Ezeiza where Maradona lives. Ba... Mingo Womens Jersey . 23. 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West Youth Jersey .C. -- In a business where players and management are often looking at the long term, a six-month contract extension was the best solution for Kenny Miller and the Vancouver Whitecaps.It may seem like it has been a long time in coming, and theres nothing to assure that this year is going to be better than years past, but the St. Louis Blue have been chock full of potential for quite some time and this may be the year they put it all together. New captain David Backes is a rare breed, the only player in the league with 30 goals, 30 assists, a plus-30 rating and more than 90 penalty minutes last season, a feat that has been accomplished one other time since 2000-2001 (Alex Burrows in 2009-2010). Backes value gets a further boost in leagues that give him right wing eligibility because its not enough that hes producing at this level, but he does it (at least in terms of eligibility) at a shallow wing position. After coming over from Colorado last year, Chris Stewart scored 15 goals in 26 games, forming a dangerous duo with Backes, as the two power forwards are a handful for opposing defencemen to handle physically. Stewart has scored 28 goals in each of the last two seasons, but that total would figure to be a disappointment this year, given his increased role with the Blues. Goaltender Jaroslav Halak was positively underwhelming in his first season in St. Louis, posting a .910 save percentage. If Halak could put up numbers more along the lines of what he had in Montreal, that would go a long way towards getting the Blues into the playoffs and if he does it in 65-plus games, Halak could also be a 35-game winner. Heady puck-moving defenceman Kevin Shattenkirk was traded to St. Louis part way through his rookie season and contributed 17 points in 26 games with the Blues. The 22-year-old will get power play time and his point production alone will make him appealing in most formats. Like Shattenkirk, Pietrangelo scored 43 points last season, but Pietrangelo also finished with a plus-18 rating. Between the two of them, the Blues have quality puck-movers that can get the puck up the ice, giving the forwards opportunities to score. Veteran Andy McDonald has shifted to the wing and has remained productive when hes been in the lineup, working well on a line with Backes and Stewart late last season. McDonald has had concussion problems, so that brings an element of risk, but he also played a career-high 20:02 per game last year, so hes an integral part of what the Blues are doing offensively. Patrik Berglund experienced a nice bounceback in his third season following a flop of a sophomore campaign. With 31 points in the last 39 games of the season, Berglund started to approach the kind of production that is expected from a playmaking centre with his size (6-foot-4, 218 pounds) and skill. One of the real wildcards on the St. Louis roster is T. J. Oshie, at one time a highly-touted young player. Hes only 24-years-old, but hasnt been able to stay healthy and ran afoul of the Blues at one point down the stretch, getting suspended by the team for misssing practice.dddddddddddd Oshie is talented and plays with an enviable hard-nosed approach, but has yet to score 20 goals or 50 points in a season and that may not happen until Oshie proves he can stay healthy. Though hes not a naturally gifted scorer, Alex Steen did finish with a career-high 51 points last season and even if thats not elite level production, on left wing its enough to warrant selection in many leagues. A concussion limited David Perron to just ten games last season and he still isnt expected to be ready for the start of this season, but the talented 23-year-old should be snatched up in deep leagues because hes a gifted offensive player with more upside than most late-round selections. Aside from their young and promising bunch, the Blues have signed veterans Jason Arnott and Jamie Langenbrunner. They dont figure to be among the top six forwards, so they have limited appeal, but theyre the kind of players that could be useful fill-ins during the season if they end up in more prominent roles. The Blues have missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons, but have the talent to provide better results and if their young players go from potential to productive, the payoff should be a playoff berth. NHL Depth Chart - St. Louis Blues LW C RW Andy McDonald David Backes Chris Stewart Alexander Steen Patrik Berglund T.J. Oshie Matt DAgostini Jason Arnott Jamie Langenbrunner B.J. Crombeen Vladimir Sobotka Ryan Reaves Stefan Della Rovere Scott Nichol Evgeny Grachev David Perron T.J. Hensick Brett Sterling D D G Kevin Shattenkirk Alex Pietrangelo Jaroslav Halak Barret Jackman Roman Polak Ben Bishop Carlo Colaiacovo Nikita Nikitin Brian Elliott Ian Cole Kent Huskins Mark Cundari Danny Syvret Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy Sports on Facebook. cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '