Paul George is getting more and more comfortable in this series
Out of any player in the NBA, Paul George may receive the most scrutiny on social media. Like every big name player, George has good and bad days, but nobody ever seems to want to appreciate him when he is having a good day.
In Game 3, he not only had a good game, he had a fantastic game for the Los Angeles Clippers, scoring 31 points on 12-24 shooting, 6-10 from deep, and he had 5 assists as well. Through three games now in this series, George is getting better and better against the Jazz.
Paul George had 20 points on 4-17 shooting in Game 1, he then had 27 points on 8-18 shooting in Game 2 and now he had an even better performance in Game 3, which led to a Clippers’ victory. George is going to have to continue to play at a high-level like he did in Game 3 in order for the Clippers to win this series.
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Utah is going to get better as this series progresses, especially when Mike Conley returns to the court from a mild hamstring strain, which is why Paul George knocking down big shots for them is going to be critical. George’s 31 points in Game 3’s victory for the Clippers extended his streak of scoring 20+ points to 11 straight games now and he has scored 20+ points in every single playoff game this year.
Whether it is Joe Ingles or Bojan Bogdanovic guarding him, Paul George needs to continue to be aggressive on the offensive-end of the court and get to his spots. In Game 1 and in parts of Game 2, the 7x All-Star seemed to shy away from contact and instead of getting to his spots, let the Jazz defenders dictate what shots he was taking.
In Game 3 however, Paul George asserted himself as one of the leaders of this Clippers offensive attack and he controlled what happened when he had the ball in his hands. Whether it was rising up on the three-point line and knocking down a high-percentage shot or getting to his spot in the mid-range, George did not let Utah control his shot selection.
Not only will he need to have another big game in Game 4 in order for the Clippers to even up this series, but seeing as he has been getting better and better each game on the offensive-end of the court, Paul George could be getting ready to have his best performance in these NBA playoffs on Monday night!