Paul George Channelled Pacers Energy To Lead Clips
Leading a franchise was like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes for Clippers forward Paul George on Wednesday night.
In the absence of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George contributed a pivotal performance as the Clippers won 119 – 111. He finished with 37 points, 16 rebounds and five assists.
Up 3 – 2 in the series, the Clippers can knock out the Jazz in Game 6 on Friday. With Kawhi Leonard still out, Paul George will take the weight of the team on his shoulders.
He says it’s not a big deal for him, because he was the franchise leader for the Indiana Pacers.
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“I’ve been in Indiana, where I had to lead a franchise,” George said of having to lead without Leonard. “The beauty here is I get to do that with one of the best in the world in Kawhi. Now Kawhi is down. It was just that mindset being back in Indy, having to set the tone and come out and lead a ballclub.
“That’s really the mindset I came out with. It was nothing that I had to prove. It was nothing that I had to be surprised about myself. I just dug into a place that I’ve been already in my career, and it just came down to trust. Everybody just allowed me to lead and they kept pushing me. They just kept me into a great mental space.”
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George and Kevin Durant are now the only players to have at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists in a postseason game this year.
“Have a lot of respect for PG,” Lue said of George.Â
“Like you can’t judge a guy’s career off what they do off one series. Like I know a lot of great players that have bad series or a bad game or a bad two games in a series, but whenever he has a bad game, they want to make a big deal of it. It’s whatever. You know, just keep playing. Keep being who you are, and at the end of the day, you know, you can live with the results.”
