Joe Ingles explains key to beating ‘better’ Paul George in playoff matchup

When the LA Clippers matched up against the Jazz last year in the Western Conference Semifinals, all eyes were on Paul George and Joe Ingles.

The two had previously had major history with each other from back when they went at it in the 2018 playoffs. Ingles kept trying to get into George’s head during that series, back when PG13 played for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unfortunately for George, it appeared to be working.

It was affecting his play, as George and the ultra-talented Thunder were upset by the Jazz in that series. George had a couple duds in the series, going six for 21 from the field and two of four from the line in Game 2, and scoring five points on two of 16 shooting, zero of six from three, and one of two from the stripe in the final Game 6. Ingles even brought back some trash talk early in the series against George in 2021.

George played well in that series, and it’s always entertaining to watch PG and Ingles go at it in the playoffs. They will probably meet there again someday. On former Clipper JJ Redick’s podcast ‘The Old Man & The Three,’ Ingles spoke about the history.

Joe Ingles knows that Paul George is a better player than him.

There was some humility in what Joe Ingles had to say about Paul George. I liked that interaction that Ingles had with Redick. It was interesting insight on how Ingles had to try to play PG13, knowing how good the star LA Clipper is.

It was a solid strategy too. To make up for the skill disadvantage Ingles faced, he opted to try to take PG out of the game mentally.

Last time George was asked about Ingles, he chose to not answer:

That was in last year’s playoff series. In fairness, Ingles didn’t feel like pushing the narrative himself when he was asked about it back then too:

Regardless, both the Clippers and Jazz have good teams, and could potentially meet up in the postseason.

Perhaps we’ll see PG and Ingles rekindle the beef, but we’d be getting a great series either way.