LA Clippers star Paul George looked terrific in the team's scrimmages. Here's why he should continue to perform at that level in the Playoffs.
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00:00 After an up-and-down season that was still pretty great for what it's worth,
00:03 Paul George is looking like his old self again. The LA Clippers star looked
00:07 terrific in all three of his team's scrimmage games, taking jumpers from all
00:11 over the floor, attacking the paint, and playing swift physical defense. In those
00:15 games, George averaged 16 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3 assists in about 24
00:20 minutes per contest. He got 24 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per 36 minutes,
00:26 which are impressive figures to post considering he's hardly played
00:28 basketball in the last four months. Those numbers are not the entire story though,
00:32 as George has also been shooting the ball at a highly efficient rate. Overall,
00:36 George has gone 15 to 33 from the field, or a 45.5 per second conversion rate,
00:41 8 of 11 with charity strike, or 72%, which is a bit lower than his percentage of
00:45 the season, and 10 of 19 three-point range, or a 52.6% conversion rate, which
00:51 boils down to a true shooting percentage of 63.4%, which is more than five points
00:55 higher than what he posted during his MVP-caliber season with the Oklahoma City
00:59 Thunder in 2019. It's an extremely small sample size, and the efforts from all
01:04 teams involved in these scrimmages could be considered questionable at times, but
01:07 the point still stands that George looked visibly fresh in the time of his
01:10 first possession and on. It's no surprise he played as well as he did there either.
01:14 As we've talked about several times, for the first time all year, George is finally
01:18 completely healthy. He's now fully recovered from the multiple shoulder
01:21 surgery syndrome he went last summer, and he's finished the rehabilitation process
01:24 as well. Finally Clippers fans are catching a
01:27 glimpse at what George can really do for the team. That's exactly the reason why
01:32 we should expect him to slow down any time as well. Throughout these games,
01:34 George has looked increasingly competent in his shot and his body. He's shown
01:38 terrific chemistry with his teammates, delivering passes with pinpoint accuracy,
01:42 and guiding them to their spots. He's looked like one of the very best players in
01:46 basketball, which is what he is when he's at his peak. Time will tell if George can
01:50 sustain this level of play throughout the seeding games and playoffs, but for
01:54 now Clippers fans should be very encouraged by what they've seen from
01:57 the former All-Star Paul George.