JaMychal Green Trying to Get Paul George Right

LA Clippers reserve JaMychal Green says the team is trying to keep Paul George out of his own head.

Transcript

00:00 Much has been made of Paul George's struggles in the 2020 NBA playoffs and rightfully so.

00:05 Through the first four games, the Clippers serious Dallas Mavericks,

00:08 the All-Star forward is averaging 15.3 points per game and shooting 29% from the field and

00:14 22.2% in three-point range. Those numbers are obviously well below average for George,

00:18 who just can't seem to get himself out of this funk right now.

00:21 During his media availability on Monday, teammate Michael Green expressed his confidence in George's

00:26 ability and said the team is working to help him clear his mind, saying, "We just keep trying to

00:30 keep PG out of his head, try to block out the social media, the fans, just get back to playing

00:34 basketball. We need him to get back to the high level basketball he's capable of playing. And I

00:39 feel like he's just in his head. So try to tell him that we need him, what we know he can do,

00:42 and just show it." George hasn't seemed bright since game two of this series. He was huge in

00:48 his debut, pouring in 27 points and hitting a dagger three-pointer late in the fourth quarter

00:54 essentially gave the Clippers the win in game one, but has struggled to reach that same level of

00:58 production since then. Even George's shot selection has been questionable as he passed up several

01:02 wide-open three-pointers in game four and settled for contested mid-range jumpers instead. All year

01:08 long, those shots were instant buckets for him, so it's weird to see him passing them up right now.

01:12 All of George's teammates have been supportive of him in this struggle, including Kawhi Leonard,

01:17 who said PG's time is coming after LA's crushing game four defeat in overtime. On Monday, Landry

01:23 Shanitz is gonna drop 40 in a game sometime soon, expressing his confidence in him as well. Only one

01:28 thing seems certain at this point though, and that's the Clippers will have a very hard time

01:32 closing this series out without George playing his best basketball. The team has been sitting

01:36 in a smooth three-point shooting, aggressive drives to the rim, a physical defense that George

01:40 wanted to display all season long, and it shows. The first round series is now guaranteed to go at

01:45 least six games. Clippers very easily could have been up three to one right now, had they sustained

01:50 a 21-point lead in game four. George's next chance to get going comes this Tuesday, August 25th,

01:56 when LA and Dallas take the floor for game five.