LA Clippers reserve JaMychal Green says the team is trying to keep Paul George out of his own head.
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00:00Much has been made of Paul George's struggles in the 2020 NBA playoffs, and rightfully so.
00:05Through the first four games, the Clippers steered us to Dallas Mavericks,
00:08the all-star forward is averaging 15.3 points per game and shooting 29% from the field and
00:1422.2% in three-point range. Those numbers are obviously well below average for George,
00:18who just can't seem to get himself out of this funk right now.
00:21During his media availability on Monday, teammates Michael Green expressed his confidence in George's
00:26ability, and said the team has been working to help him clear his mind, saying quote,
00:29We just keep trying to keep PG out of his head, try to block out the social media,
00:33the fans, just get back to playing basketball. We need him to get back to the high-level
00:37basketball he's capable of playing, and I feel like he's just in his head,
00:40so try to tell him that we need him, what we know he can do, and just show it.
00:44George hasn't seemed bright since game two of this series. He was huge in his debut,
00:49pouring in 27 points and hitting a dagger three-pointer late in the fourth quarter
00:54that essentially gave the Clippers the win in game one, but has struggled to reach that
00:57same level of production since then. Even George's shot selection has been questionable,
01:02as he passed up several wide-open three-pointers in game four and settled for contested mid-range
01:06jumpers instead. All year long, those shots were instant buckets for him, so it's weird
01:11to see him passing them up right now. All of George's teammates have been supportive
01:15of him in this struggle, including Kawhi Leonard, who said PG's time is coming after LA's
01:20crushing game four defeat in overtime. On Monday, Landry Shannon said he's going to drop 40 in a
01:24game sometime soon, expressing his confidence in him as well. Only one thing seems certain at this
01:29point, though, and that's that the Clippers will have a very hard time closing this series out
01:33without George playing his best basketball. The team is missing the smooth three-point shooting,
01:37aggressive drives to the rim, and physical defense that George put on display all season
01:41long, and it shows. The first-round series is now guaranteed to go at least six games.
01:46Clippers very easily could have been up three to one right now,
01:49had they sustained their 21-point lead in game four. George's next chance to get going
01:54comes this Tuesday, August 25th, when LA and Dallas take the floor for game five.