The Los Angeles Clippers are officially a 50-win team after winning seven out of their last 10 games. This gives them a lot of momentum heading into the last games of the regular season and playoffs. But, there was a Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland-sized roadblock in front of them before getting this impressive record. The Cleveland Cavaliers were complacent while the Clippers were clawing themselves back. This prompted the game to be decided in the final shot. Enter: Paul George and his insane late-game heroics.
The Clippers are a very loaded team with almost everyone capable of shooting the last shot with the game on the line. James Harden and Russell Westbrook have been in these situations before while Norman Powell and Terance Mann also had hot hands. This left the Cavaliers' defense looking confused in their coverage. Paul George had the killer instinct and 37 prior points already. So, he danced around with Evan Mobley, took the shot, and it was pure, Joey Linn of Sports Illustrated.
This had Clippers fans celebrating and making bold declarations
“Clips are simply a legitimate title contender when their best players do the hard stuff. Paul George offensively was brilliant. But, the board work, the multiple efforts defensively, screen navigation, that's what makes them a bonafide contender for me,” a fan said.
Another member of the Clippers faithful even lashed back at all the vitriol, “‘Paul George isn’t clutch', ‘Pacers Paul George was better.' Btw he was good but just more athletic. This is the best version of PG. BOY SMOOTH.”
Some have even started to observe that George has been playing the best ball in his life, “That’s 3 games in a row that Paul George has stepped up taken over a game, and went back to the number 1 option.”
Others, on the other hand, decided to put more pressure on this Clippers squad's title hopes, “Paul George & Kawhi have no excuses bruh in 2 weeks teams can’t f*** them, man.”
Clippers' road to 50 entries in the win column
The Cavaliers came off blazing to start off the game. Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland led this team to 80 points in the first half. This meant that the Clippers were down by 26 points at one point in the clash. What did they do? Execute well on both ends of the floor while their star player looked like he could not miss a bucket. Despite scoring 40 in each of the first two quarters, clamps were put on the Cavaliers. They only managed to notch 38 points in the last two quarters.
George then decided to clutch up. He knocked down 10 out of his 24 field goal attempts and also went a perfect 16 for 16 on the line. The game ended with him leading the Clippers in all the major statistical categories. His stat sheet was filled with 39 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists. The Cavaliers may have had all their starters score 15 points or more and Isaac Okoro adding 11 off the bench but it was no match for the Clippers in the clutch.
Will they be able to ride this momentum to the postseason?
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