Clippers can survive Paul George injury (even if he’s out several games)
By Evan Desai
![Paul George, LA Clippers. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports Paul George, LA Clippers. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/692111291fb1811312554aeaf28487a8ec7f01ab01b981748b5b6318765584f7.jpg)
The LA Clippers have now won three straight games with Paul George out due to his elbow injury.
George suffered the injury in the prior game (a win) against the Portland Trail Blazers; a team he has a lot of recent success against. In the most recent victory without PG13, the Clippers took down a Phoenix Suns team who entered the game with the best record in basketball (21-4).
They not only beat them, but beat them by 16 points; recording a final score of 95-111. It brings hope as to what the Clippers can potentially do, even if PG has to miss more time.
The LA Clippers can sustain success even without Paul George for now.
Make no mistake about it, the LA Clippers are likely not contending long-term if Paul George is out for extended time (unless Kawhi Leonard comes back soon). That being said, the Clips will be coming into their road contest against the Jazz with a lot of confidence after dominating an even better team in a full team effort.
Sure, their game will be on the road, and they beat the Suns at home.
But they slaughtered the Suns. They were the much better team on Monday night. Home court was nice, but wasn’t the difference in the game.
So let’s say the Clips come out with a lot of intensity and confidence against the Jazz. If they win, they’ll be even hotter and be carrying even more confidence afterwards. If they lose, they still won’t be shot due to the fact that they have won three of their last four without PG–and their only loss was to a really good team on the road.
They’d then be looking at three upcoming games against all bad teams: The Thunder, the Spurs, and the Kings. They absolutely have proven that they can take advantage of a stretch like that.
Keep in mind, the Clippers have figured out how to win in many different ways without PG. At first, Brandon Boston Jr. was just killing it. Then, the rest of the team really shined, even when Boston couldn’t sustain that success.
This team has great chemistry together, and can hold it down without PG. After those three games, they come back home to a Nuggets team that’s good, but certainly not as good as the Suns team they just smoked. And they’ll have the Nets after that, but that game will be at home too.
They’ll then close out the month with a Celtics team who they already proved they can beat without PG, and an awful Raptors team.
Next. Clips role players smack the Suns. dark
Of course, we want PG back in action. He’s been a top five player in the NBA this year. That being said, we can manage to stay in contention without him for now, even if the worst-case scenario hits and he has to miss the next several games.