Subscribe
Follow Us
LOS ANGELES – Last summer, All-Star forward Paul George shocked the NBA world when he decided to re-sign with the Oklahoma City Thunder rather than join his hometown Los Angeles Lakers.
On Wednesday night, George returned to the Staples Center for the first time since spurning the Lakers in free agency to keep playing alongside Russell Westbrook for the foreseeable future. Although it was a rough start with the Fresno State product getting in foul trouble early, it was a strong finish for the kid from Palmdale who clearly left an impression on Brandon Ingram.
“He’s a really, really good player,” Ingram said of George. “We knew he was going to be in attack mode…We tried to stay in front of him. We tried to rebound the basketball and do whatever we could to make it tough on them.”
George finished with a game-high 37 points on 29 shots. The Lakers simply had no answer for the 28-year-old down the stretch as he picked up the slack for his a struggling Westbrook and took control of the game.
“I thought he did a good job of just staying focused,” Westbrook said of George's big night. “You know, making the game easy for him, getting him open looks in transition and he stayed the course throughout the game.”
Related NewsArticle continues below
Oklahoma City Thunder X-factor that will determine Western Conference Finals vs. Timberwolves
Thunder’s Jalen Williams confesses what he couldn’t do before Game 7 rout
NBA hits Thunder’s Jalen Williams with hefty fine over clothing choice
Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shuts down MVP ‘asterisks’ with win vs. Nikola Jokic
With George's return to Los Angeles the hot topic of discussion on Wednesday, Thunder head coach Billy Donovan talked the emotions the L.A. native must be feeling and whether that fueled his 37-point performance.
“The one thing I will say is that every time this year I have coach Paul I feel like every game to his is important, so I don't want to say that he was extra amped up for this game,” Donovan said of his star forward. “Obviously, the Lakers have great history, great tradition; it's a great place to play, great environment. But I would say out of all the game we have played this year; Paul has played at a really high level for a good number of them. But as it relates to his personal feelings of that, I think he's probably the best to answer that.”
As a result of the 107-100 win over the Lakers, George and company are now 24-13 on the season and are looking like a legitimate threat in the Western Conference. Even though it is still early and anything can happen down the road, the five-time All-Star can walk out of the Staples Center feeling like he made the right choice, but it'll be interesting to see if that will continue to be the case if these two teams end up meeting in the playoffs later this year.
