The LA Clippers swingman has fought hard to ensure he is back playing before the playoffs and did well on his return to action.
Wednesday 30 March 2022 09:03, UK
Paul George channelled the energy of his hero Kobe Bryant – who often fought back and through injuries to excel – in a successful return for the Los Angeles Clippers.
George has been out since before Christmas because of a torn ligament in his right elbow but was decisive for his team as the Clippers fought their way out of a 25-point hole to beat the Utah Jazz 121-115 on Tuesday night.
The Clippers had lost their last five games coming into this one and it looked like they were headed for another defeat when they trailed by 16 early in the fourth quarter.
From there, the Clippers outscored Utah 34-12 to end the game. During the spurt, George hit his sixth 3-pointer of the game.
It was the kind of performance and fight Kobe was noted for and George name-checked his hero after the game.
"Just having an idol like Kobe Bryant," George said. "He played through stuff like this and I always hold myself to a high standard. At the end of the day, when I'm finished I want to look at my career, say I gave everything I had. I wanted to help my guys. I didn't want to leave them out here hanging for the rest of the season. I felt good. So you know, it was alright to come back."
Seeing George hit back-to-back 3-pointers in front of the Clippers bench was all coach Tyronn Lue needed.
"I was like, 'OK, he's good, he's ready,'" the coach said. "It's a big morale boost to have him back. Guys were getting worn down and tired. We needed that."
George hadn't played since December 22 while rehabbing a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.
"I feel good," he confirmed afterwards. "There's no pain."
George initially wanted to have surgery after getting hurt, but the doctor told him that type of injury heals and the ligament would reattach itself to the bone.
"Thankfully we went that direction," he said.
Assistant coach Brian Shaw had George running during rehab to the point where he felt more like a track and field athlete than a basketball player.
"Unnecessary running," George said, smiling, "but it paid off. I trusted him. I've got to shout out to get ready crew, I've got to shout out those guys for getting me ready to play. They battled. They tested me in practices. And it prepared me for tonight."
The Clippers have had multiple comeback wins when trailing by at least 20 points this season. Their 35-point comeback against Washington on January 25 was the second-biggest in NBA history.
But George didn't enjoy seeing the holes they dug themselves while he was out.
"Just always come out with energy," he counselled his teammates. "Our intensity has to be there. The game completely changes when we give ourselves a chance.
"We always know what [the problem] is, we come out we play flat, Call it what it is, we're a poor team, we don't execute well, we don't finish well. We don't shoot the ball. We don't defend well, it just comes down to effort and energy.
"You can always pick that, if you look at every game that we go down big, it's because the other team's playing harder than us. But when we turn it on and when we finally get into the game, we give ourselves a chance. And there's a reason why we always think we can win a game."
George and fellow All-Star Kawhi Leonard have yet to appear in a game together this season after Leonard has remained sidelined all season after having offseason surgery to repair a partial tear in his right ACL.
Should that happen, the Clippers' playoff fortunes will presumably improve significantly. Otherwise, the Clippers pledge to maximise what they have. But even as their Play-In chances depend on what happens in the final six games of 2021-22, Lue has tried to manage the Clippers' resources carefully.
Aware that his team struggled with burnout during their recent losing streak, Lue has limited minutes for Reggie Jackson, Nicolas Batum and Marcus Morris.
"That Play-In game, we have to be ready," Lue said. "That's our main focus. We want to maintain a rhythm and make sure we're playing the right style of basketball. But at the end of the day, our health is going to be most important."
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