On Sunday afternoon, Paul George and the Los Angeles Clippers picked up a much-needed win in the friendly confines of the Crypto.com Arena vs the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers, overcoming an early 26-point deficit in the process. George poured in 39 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists in the thrilling Clippers victory, including knocking down the game winning jumper after a killer crossover with just seconds to go in the contest.
The win ensured that the Clippers held strong in the fourth position in the vaunted Western Conference playoff picture despite the Dallas Mavericks, who have been on their tail for that spot for about a week now, also winning in “come from behind” fashion at home vs the Houston Rockets.
After the game, Clippers sixth man Russell Westbrook had a hilarious response to his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate’s epic performance.
“When he woke up this morning,” said Westbrook when asked when he knew George had it going, per Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints on X, the social media platform formerly referred to as Twitter. “When he’s playing at his best, not too many people can beat us. When he’s aggressive, missing, making shots, whatever that may be, he’s a different player.”
Westbrook went on to explain his own impact on the thrilling victory over the Cavaliers, including the great defense he played against Cleveland down the stretch of the fourth quarter.
“All year long, honestly, I’ve been depending on my defense,” Westbrook told Tomer Azarly. “Holding people and stopping people every time it’s needed. Tonight was one of those nights where we needed to get stops to be able to close the game and close the gap. I thought we did a good job of that as a team.”
A wild ride for the Clippers
The 2023-24 season has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for the Clippers thus far. The season began in turbulence, as the team traded away several veteran role players and draft picks to land disgruntled Philadelphia 76ers guard James Harden, and promptly lost their first five games with him in the lineup.
After that, the season took a complete 180, as the Clippers played like one of the best teams in the NBA for a large stretch of the winter months, before crashing back down to earth in recent weeks with a series of puzzling losses, including to the Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks in blowout fashion at home.
However, over the last couple of weeks, the Clippers appear to have steadied the ship somewhat, as they recently finished out a relatively successful Eastern Conference road trip and now have picked up home wins over the reigning champion Denver Nuggets and now the Cavaliers without superstar Kawhi Leonard in the lineup, and appear poised to secure home-court advantage for their first round matchup in the playoffs.
A whole lot is riding on how Los Angeles fairs in this postseason, but with George, Leonard, Harden and Westbrook playing such great basketball, they’re not a team that anyone will want to face.
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