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LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 24: New Clippers player Paul George speaks at a press conference at the Green Meadows Recreation Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 24, 2019. George and Leonard were introduced to the media and fans as the newest members of the Clippers. (Photo by Scott Varley/MediaNews Group/Daily Breeze via Getty Images)
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LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 24: New Clippers player Paul George speaks at a press conference at the Green Meadows Recreation Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday, July 24, 2019. George and Leonard were introduced to the media and fans as the newest members of the Clippers. (Photo by Scott Varley/MediaNews Group/Daily Breeze via Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Clippers were one of the favorites to win the NBA championship last season. With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George leading the way, the Clippers finished the season as the second seed in the Western Conference.
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In the second round of the playoffs, they faced off against the Denver Nuggets. After taking a 3-1 lead, the Clippers were in for a routine series victory. But with some woeful defending and some forgetful performances from Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers lost the series in seven games.
Paul George recently was a part of All The Smoke podcast. When asked about the loss to the Denver Nuggets, George said, “We were confident. We went up 3-1; we felt like we will win the next one but lost. But we were like it’s cool 3-2. We will win the next one but we lost.
“During that whole process, we never worked on adjustments. We never worked on what to do differently. We were just literally having the same s**t happen over and over again. It started to play a trick on you like ‘man what’s going on’?”
He added, “The conversation was like- we will be all right. The conversation should have been like- we need to switch this up. At the end of the day, I don’t think we deserved it. We weren’t prepared enough going into it from just us making adjustments standpoint.
“We weren’t prepared, we didn’t put the work into it. It was like we have got PG, Kawhi; we got Lou, Trezz like we gonna be straight, we gonna figure it out.”
The Clippers will be ready to run it back this season. With two superstars of Kawhi and PG’s caliber, expect some good basketball on the court.
Can Paul George step up for the Clippers?
Paul George is fired up and is ready for the start of the season. He even committed his future for the team signing a 5-year max extension worth $226 million.
All-Star forward Paul George has signed a maximum contract extension with the Los Angeles Clippers that’ll guarantee him as much as $226 million over the next five years, his agent Aaron Mintz of @CAA_Basketball tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 10, 2020
With such a big money deal, the expectations will be sky high for the 6-time All-star. Last season, George missed multiple matches from the start of the season, he could not build the chemistry needed for the team.
While others clicked, George always felt out of place. His on-court performances were also unimpressive. When the playoffs came around, it looked like PG would step up. However, he was very inconsistent.
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LOS ANGELES, CA – FEBRUARY 18: Paul George enters at the 67th NBA All-Star Game: Team LeBron Vs. Team Stephen at Staples Center on February 18, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)
Over the years, he has become a lethal shooter. Despite having a disappointing playoff run, PG averaged 41.2% from the three point line. If he is in his element, he can decimate other teams’ defenses.
New coach Tyronn Lue will try to build some cohesion within the team. If Paul George can replicate his 2018-19 numbers this season, we might be seeing a Clippers side ready to beat any team.
