LA Clippers & Paul George send an early message to the Lakers on opening night
By Ray Harris
The LA Clippers spoiled the Lakers’ ring night behind a big game from Paul George.
The LA Clippers spoiled the Lakers’ ring night ceremony by sending a message to the Lakers that this Clippers team will be a force to be reckoned with under new Coach Ty Lue.
After the Lakers received their shiny new bling, the Clippers came out smoking hot; building and closing out the first quarter with a 20-point lead. The Clippers looked focused, while the Lakers were still admiring their diamond-studded rings.
The second quarter, however, showed remnants of last year’s Clippers collapse in their second round playoff bubble loss to the Denver Nuggets. The 20-point lead they accumulated quickly evaporated, as the Lakers woke up and finished the half only being down by two points at 56-54.
I’m sure many Clippers fans started to think “here we go again”.
In the second half, however, Paul George started to play like a man possessed. George connected on a blistering 10 of 12 shots in the half, including four 3-pointers in leading the Clippers to the final score of 116-109.
George has put a lot of pressure on himself in the last few weeks by throwing former Coach Doc Rivers under the bus. In an interview on the “All The Smoke” podcast, George said that Rivers did not use him correctly in many of the Clippers’ offensive schemes.
George basically did not play well against the Nuggets in round two of the playoffs. It seems as though George was looking for a scapegoat, and Coach Rivers was unfortunately on the receiving end of George’s excuses of his poor play.
With the new season underway, George has a chance to put all of this behind him and show the rest of the league that he can play at an MVP type of level. The Clippers will need him to be this good consistently if they want to overtake and come from under the shadow of the Lakers.
This season should be really entertaining watching the Clippers under new Coach Ty Lue. I know it’s only one game, but the team looked like they played with more fluidity than they did under Doc Rivers. Lue will give most players the green light to jack up 3’s, which will eventually open up driving lanes for George and fellow star Kawhi Leonard.
Next. Predicting the Clippers record in December. dark
Could this finally be the year the LA Clippers get over the hump and win their first-ever NBA title? It definitely will be fun to watch.