Paul George’s Resurgence Leads Los Angeles Clippers To Game 5 Domination Of Dallas Mavericks

Paul George was rightly criticized for his struggles the last few games, but Playoff P made sure he was ready for the Clippers in their pivotal Game 5.

After scoring a combined 34 points in his last three games on 10-of-47 shooting from the field, George poured in 35 as Los Angeles dominated the Dallas Mavericks 154-111 on Tuesday at the Orlando bubble to take a 3-2 first round series lead.

The Clips set a playoff record for total points, field goal percentage with 63.1%, points in a half with 76 and made 3-pointers with 22, re-asserting their dominance as the team to beat in the Western Conference. It also shattered the Dallas franchise record for points allowed in a postseason game.

George’s body language, aggressiveness and attitude were so much better than the last few games, as he hit 12 of his 18 field goal attempts. It seemed like a concerted effort for the Clippers to show better camaraderie and mutual support for George and each other from the bench, actually acting and playing like this was a game they needed to win.

“The bubble got the best of me,” George told TNT’s Jared Greenberg after the game. “I was in a dark place.”

George said he was lost in the bubble with no energy from the fans. He thanked people who reached out to him and he and the Clippers came out with the right energy and get back to his All-Star ways.

And win the Clippers did, in destructive fashion. Leonard had 32 points and eight rebounds, as the Clippers got a balanced scoring effort from Marcus Morris, Montrezl Harrell, Landry Shamet and Reggie Jackson.

After Dallas took an early 16-9 lead, Los Angeles scored the next 16 points and 32 of the next 38 as the Clippers went up 41-22 after the first quarter. George had nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and Kawhi Leonard scored 15, as L.A. hit a ridiculous 16 of its 24 shots in the stanza. Sixteen of those points were scored off of seven Maverick turnovers.

PG13 did pick up his third foul on a charge halfway through the second quarter, but hit four of his first five shots to finish the half with 18. His body language and demeanor looked so much better, ready to finally advance in the playoffs this year after four straight first round losses. And with Kristaps Porzingis still out and Luka Doncic visibly hobbled with his ankle injury, L.A.lead 76-52 at halftime behind 62.2% shooting and 22 points from Kawhi.

Just two days after an unprecedented 43-point, 17-rebound, 13-assist triple-double with the game-winning buzzer three in overtime, Doncic’s ankle appeared more bothersome and didn’t look himself. The 21-year-old shot 4-for-11 in the first half and 6-of-17 for the game, scoring 22 points with eight rebounds but missed five of his 14 free throws.

To keep George going, Clippers head coach Doc Rivers set up the first play for him. Leonard was able to feed the perfect lob to PG13 for an alley-oop layup, and a subsequent three gave him five quick points in 55 seconds as the rout was on.

Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle was ejected with 6:42 left in the third quarter after getting two technical fouls while protesting a late Clippers challenge, and it was essentially garbage time from there.

Still without Patrick Beverley, who remains out of the lineup with an injured calf, Inside The NBA’s Charles Barkley mentioned how the Los Angeles Lakers obliterated Portland on Monday night and perhaps this shellacking was the Clippers’ response. Whatever the reason, the Clips brought their A game on Tuesday, with George giving them their biggest boost in their most important contest and for the time being, exorcising his playoff demons.