LA Clippers: Paul George’s encouraging second half

Paul George couldn’t get anything to go in the first half of Game 1 of the LA Clippers’ first playoff series.

The star LA Clipper was a rough 1 for 7 from the field. There was something Paul George was doing well, though, and it led to a strong second half showing.

While he was just 1 for 7 in the first half (and 0 for 3 from downtown), he was a perfect 5 for 5 at the free throw line.

Richard Jefferson, the color commentator for the game yesterday, mentioned multiple times that George could use the free throw line to get back in it and find production somewhere. He was automatic from the line in that first half.

In the second half, George connected on 7 of 11 shots, and a couple of those were even threes. He was 2 of 5 from back there. He dropped a solid five dimes in the contest too, along with grabbing a quality six boards.

Part of being a great scorer is about finding ways to get to the line, and knowing when to get to the line.

George’s jump shot obviously wasn’t just completely broke if he was hitting from the line. Sure enough, he ended up coming around.

He finished 8-18 from the field and 2-8 from beyond the three-point line. The 2 for 8 isn’t exciting, but 8-18 on field goal attempts isn’t bad, and he now has the chance to build off of his second half performance in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

“Pandemic P” was trending after the first half. Did PG completely shut the trolls up after this second half performance? Probably not, but if he can find that player he turned into after halftime and come out with that type of fire come Tuesday, nobody will be talking down on PG in Game 2.

George has what it takes to be a great playoff performer, and showed it in the second half of Game 1. Channeling how he finished yesterday–and not how he started–will be key for how he fares in Game 2.