After some harsh criticism, the Clippers’ all-star Paul George earned the praise from fans as the Clippers won Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals 116 to 102 and trimmed the series lead to one.
In Game 5, George dropped a huge 41 points along with 6 assists and 13 rebounds. With that stat line “George became just the ninth player since 1983-84 (as far back as Basketball Reference has complete box scores) with a 40-10-5 game this late in the playoffs,” according to Bleacher Report.
What really set this performance apart was the efficiency in which Paul George earned his points last night. PG13 only missed five shots and that puts him on the lowest mark for the elite group he put himself in last night. After many years of criticism after George called himself “Playoff P” in 2018 is seems as though he is right on the edge of the breakthrough people thought would happen years ago.
In 2013 George was a member of the Indiana Pacers. He was also on the wrong end of a Game 7 against the star-studded big three of the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. He had just 7 points but averaged 19 a game against one of the best teams the league has seen in recent years. The next year George and the Pacers fell to the Heat again in the Conference Finals but this time George averaged 24 points and 3 threes with a 38 three-point percentage.
Paul George lights up in Game 5
Just over two months later Paul George suffered a gruesome broken leg in a scrimmage for the USA Olympic team. This understandably set George Back for a while. George failed to get past the first round in each of his next four playoff appearances with the Pacers and the Thunder.
This year, George has had some struggles but he seems to be on the rise and thriving even without his co-star Kawhi Leonard who has not played a game since Game 5 against the Utah Jazz.
It will be very interesting to see if Paul George can keep this high level of play up and take his team to the 2021 NBA Finals for a chance to compete for a championship. All we can do for now is wait to see what is in store for Game 6.
