Greg Paulus doesn't boast about his play, not in public at least. The team? That's fair. Ask Paulus about his individual game, though, and his answer will be trite.
It was no surprise, then, that the junior point guard deflected a question Thursday night about whether his virtuoso performance was his best game in a Duke uniform.
"I'll let you guys judge that one," Paulus said. "But we won. We needed it."
His teammates, however, were more effusive in their praise.
"I've seen [Paulus] play amazing basketball, but I feel that was his best game emotionally," sophomore Lance Thomas said. "Greg's basically just putting his heart and soul on the court. He was into the game, scoring, getting everybody hyped up, things like that. It's been key to the success of our season."
"He was unbelievable," sophomore Gerald Henderson said. "That's been his best game that I've seen him play, especially in the second half."
And what a second half it was.
It was a vintage Paulus performance-one of those games that will go down in lore once the presumed four-year starter graduates-and not only because of his 22 points, three shy of his career high. He also dished out six second-half assists, a number looks even better next to his zero turnovers. It was the first time this season he played more than 30 minutes without committing a giveaway.
But the defining aspect of Paulus' best performance at Duke was his white-hot outside shooting. Paulus tied a career best with five 3-pointers, including three on consecutive possessions that helped the Blue Devils erase a nine-point halftime deficit. Duke took its first lead since the 10-minute mark of the first half when Paulus nailed the second of those long-range shots with 16:12 remaining in the second period, capping a 15-5 run to open the stanza.
After Paulus's 3-pointer rattled home, he exhaled a scream as he backpedaled across half court. Then he pleased the Duke faithful by providing his trademark floor slap-about as much emotion the collected floor general will ever display in a five-second span.
It wasn't Paulus' only passionate outburst, though. N.C. State freshman Javier Gonzalez pushed Paulus after the junior forced Gonzalez' second five-second violation in two minutes. Paulus converted the second of two free throws, followed by another obligatory floor slap, but the incident proved far from isolated.
Less than a minute later, Paulus fouled N.C. State's Brandon Costner when the Wolfpack forward had established position in the lane. Costner fell to the ground after the hard foul, immediately jumped up and took a step toward Paulus before being restrained. The skirmish was Duke's third in ACC action and, just as they did in the previous two, the Blue Devils eventually responded to the scrappy play.
Instead of backing down from the 6-foot-9 Costner, Paulus stood directly behind him on free throws and seemed to invite the challenge. The Wolfpack ended the first half up nine, but Paulus' resilience in the first half foreshadowed his brilliance in the second.
"We needed a little emotion, so I tried to give a little emotion," Paulus said. "The competitive side of me just comes out a little bit. We just needed it."
Usually it's senior captain DeMarcus Nelson that is able to find and provide what Duke needs. On Thursday night, it was Paulus, the former captain who seems bound to inherit the role next year but has not let the lack of official title inhibit his leadership style.
"I can't find words to tell you how I feel about [Paulus'] game," Thomas said. "He's that guy. Him playing like that is going to be vital for us."
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski seemed to agree, both through actions and his post-game words.
"Paulus put us on his back to get us back in the game," Krzyzewski said. "It seemed like everybody then just picked up. DeMarcus has been the guy that's been doing that for us, but I thought Greg did that tonight."
Krzyzewski's in-game decisions, though, reverberated louder than his press conference speech.
With 27.5 seconds left, Paulus found himself surrounded by Duke's second team, the starters resting comfortably on the bench with the win intact. Krzyzewski moved down the sideline, found Dave McClure and sent the junior to the scorer's table to substitute him for the game's star.
Paulus ran off to a standing ovation and serenades of his name. He tried to get past Krzyzewski with a simple handshake, but the coach grabbed him for a hug and maintained his embrace to make sure Paulus heard what he said.
The guard might be unwilling to brag about his performance, but Krzyzewski made sure Paulus had his fitting sendoff.
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