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This year’s edition of the Los Angeles Clippers has brought together the return of checkered defense, tactical tweaks and unexpected champions. But most of all, with Kawhi Leonard sidelined in the past five games of the NBA playoffs, they’ve counted on Paul George. The former MVP nominee, an active Clippers player with plenty of experience in the conference finals prior to this season, has returned from a season of slander and slander on social media and redefined the concept of the “Playoff Me.”
Clippers coach Tai Lu said: “Last year doesn’t define a player; one game, one series, two series doesn’t define a player, and PJ has always been a great player in my opinion.”
It was just under a year ago when George fired a shot from the side of the backboard in the Clippers’ Game 7 loss to the Denver Nuggets in the Florida Bubble, a shot that threatened to define his Clipper career and weighed him down with the unflattering nickname “Pandemic P.”
Two nights ago, the noise again reached its climax, after George missed two crucial free throws that could have put Game Two of the Western Conference Finals on the ice. Don’t bother with possessions before he fills in buckets in a row. Unmissable freebies have been the game’s lasting image – a 104-103 loss to the Phoenix Suns – along with Alley Award winner Deandre Ayton.
George said all the right things about moving forward, but these kinds of failures can persist.
But, again, this season is not last season. In the 2021 qualifiers, when the Clippers were standing up against the wall, they answered the call, and George was leading the way. He averaged 29.0 points at a 45.7% shot in over 40 grueling two-way basketball minutes in Game Three of the post-season series, all Clipper wins.
However, on Thursday against the Suns, I felt even more desperate than the previous two games. Leonard is out again, while Chris Paul is back in the Phoenix lineup, making his series debut against the Clippers in Los Angeles, spending six seasons trying — and failing — to take the organization to exactly that level.
George’s performance wasn’t pretty. He needed 26 shots to score 27, and missed 8 of the 11 three-pointers he attempted. But he added eight team assists and 15 rebounds, one shy of a game-high he scored in the last round. The Suns cut an 18-point deficit to six in the fourth quarter, but George scored or assisted for Clipper’s next 10 points, giving Los Angeles the last boost they needed in a 106-92 win.
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Paul George shares the bond he had with Reggie Jackson and how they envisioned sharing big moments like the ones in Game 3.
“This team is resilient,” Clippers goalkeeper Reggie Jackson said. “This team has always believed.” “We always believe, never give up, never say die. We really have no doubts. We keep running, trying to figure out ways we can be better, finding ways to impose our will on our opponents.”
Despite all the talk of abandoning the last rope, Clippers and George rewrote the narrative. They now have five double-digit wins when they fall behind in the series, and tied the 2005 Pistons for most of NBA history. George has now racked up eight straight playoffs with at least 25 points, the longest singles playoff streak in Clipper’s history.
“We have to match their body and I think we did,” George said. “We have to match their strength and I think we did that and that’s really the key. We can’t allow this team to play more aggressively than us, and I thought that’s how we handled it tonight.”
In the previous Clippers 4s, they had won in a dominant fashion, beating the Mavericks by 25 and Jazz by 14. The relief of getting on the board was evident in that series, which resulted in more relaxation and confidence the rest of the way. . When they switch to another 4 game, this time, there’s a stark contrast: Most likely not Kawhi. It will be on George & Co.’s shoulders until he arrives.
The Clippers have already made history this season as the first team to come back from multiple 2-0 drawbacks. But either way, they tied the series after winning the all-important third match. And they know that coming back from a 2-0 and 3-1 lag in the series is an even tougher challenge.
They also have George, confident and relaxed in his place, and the horrors of last summer far behind him. They can count on Playoff P for delivery.
“I said to myself, I’m going to do whatever it takes,” George told ESPN’s Rachel Nichols after the match. “I’m going to give it my all. I don’t care how many minutes I have to play. That part doesn’t matter to me. It’s winning or coming home in my opinion now, and I’m just letting it go.”
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