Given Paul George’s injury history, it’s hard not to imagine the worst when he’s seen writhing in pain.

In a way, the Indiana Pacers star’s fall late in the second quarter was the worst, just not in the sense that it would prevent him from finishing Game 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday afternoon.

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You see, Cavs forward Kevin Love’s knee collided with George in the worst possible place:

George lay on the court as the Pacers continued play on the other end of the court, until a whistle stopped the action. The way ABC play-by-play announcer Mark Jones and color commentator Hubie Brown danced around the injury, it seemed as though George might have been seriously injured.

But no, he just got hit in the nether region.

It was quite the metaphor for a series in which the Pacers were on the brink of elimination, including a blown 26-point lead in Game 3 that left George’s team in an 0-3 hole entering Sunday’s Game 4.

George remained in the game, where he was already struggling with just six points on 2-of-10 shooting in the first half. Love did him no favors in boosting his confidence, but thankfully it wasn’t any worse.

Still, getting kneed in the nards is the worst.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach