Without Kawhi Leonard, the LA Clippers survived a pivotal Game 5 against the Utah Jazz thanks to a heroic performance from Paul George.
George scored a personal postseason high 37 points to go along with 16 rebounds and five assists on 12-of-22 shooting. The win gave the Clippers a 3-2 series lead and now puts them within one win of the franchise's first ever Conference Finals. The emotions of the win were likely a vast difference given the state of the team 24 hours ago.
The Clippers learned about Kawhi Leonard's ACL injury upon arriving to Utah Tuesday night. But instead of sulking, the team moved on and told him they'd hold the fort down in his absence.
“Oh man, it was blow,” Paul George admitted. “It was a tough blow, but at the end of the day, we don't want nothing but the best for Kawhi. It's a positive he can get some rest, hopefully we can hold it down, but it's a positive. He's got a new baby boy here, lot of positives, lot of love for him and his family. We just we gotta do what we do, we gotta come together. Our season is alive because of his shouldering of all the work that he's done, so we gotta hold it together and continue to keep this boat afloat until he returns.”
"It was a tough blow, but at the end of the day. It's a positive he can get some rest. He's got a new baby boy here, lot of love for him & his family. Our season is alive because of his shouldering, all the work that he's done, so we gotta hold it together."
Paul George on Kawhi pic.twitter.com/lSzchoRWLn
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) June 17, 2021
With Leonard out for at least the remainder of this series, Paul George knows he's going to have to bring another level to his game to keep the Clippers afloat.
“It was no secret, I knew I had to be big tonight and got to be big going forward,” Paul George added. “It was just no secret coming into this, and you know, I just first put faith in God, believed in myself. My teammates trusted me. T-Lue trusted me. And you know, I thought we just lived in the moment and we just played our hearts out tonight.”
In the last three games, all wins, Paul George is averaging 33 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 4.3 made three-pointers per game on 50 percent shooting from the field, 45 percent from three, and 87 percent from the free throw line.
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