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.
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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.