Sacramento — LA Clippers star guard Paul George He was in the middle of a big second quarter when a technical foul “increased my aggression,” he said. He started taking out his anger on the Sacramento Kings.
George had 40 points, six rebounds and six assists in a 111-109 victory over the Kings at Golden 1 Center on Saturday.
George believed the Kings had their hands on him and let officials know when called for a technical with 2:04 remaining in the second quarter.
“I knew I had to be aggressive from the jump,” said George, who said his lack of foul calls and technical fouls made him even more scoring. “Rather [was] Right after I got mad at it. It definitely increased my aggression. ”
Clippers taking a break Kawai Leonard When John Wall In the first game of back-to-back sets, George scored 36 points over the final 31 minutes.
This is exactly what Clippers coach Ty Lu wanted George to see. Earlier this month, George said Leonard was clearly the team’s first choice, second choice showing no egos involved. Lou praised seven-time All-Star and former MVP finalist George for setting the tone of sacrifice for his team.
But Lou wanted George not to be an “afterthought,” so he talked to George before the regular season started.
“I don’t think he needs to change roles,” Lu said, with George flipping between complementary and leading roles when Leonard is playing and when Leonard isn’t playing. “I think he has to be aggressive. I don’t think it’s one-on-two, I think it’s one-on-one. For us to win, on both sides of the floor, these two guys have to play at a high level.” We have to produce and perform.”
“I spoke with PG. He’s a great player. So you have to be aggressive and do what you have to do. You can’t sit back. You have to be aggressive.”
George said he understood Lou’s message to him.
“It was an easy conversation,” said George. “For me, I pride myself on being a guy who enjoys doing anything. I’m going to do it
“This year I didn’t want to do anything that people would say and do. [No.] 2, I’m fine [No.] 2. But I know what I can do. I know I can be the number one option of the night and the number one option of possession.it means nothing to me [No.] two guys [No.] 1 man, [or] 1A and 1B. I’m going to go out and work regardless. ”
George said he came to Sacramento motivated by his performance in the season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers. George had 4-of-12 shooting, 15 points and 10 rebounds in Thursday’s 103-97 win over the Lakers, but had five turnovers and five fouls.
In Sacramento, he had four points and three assists in the first quarter, but his scoring came midway through the second quarter. He scored his 15th in the final 7 minutes and 22 seconds of the first half, but after complaining to the referee that he had been fouled, a technical he was whistled for a foul.
“The players were hugging me,” George said. “I was trying to argue that what you wanted me to do was that their hands were on me and I was trying to take their hands off of me.
George scored another 11 points in the third set, scoring 10 points in the final seven minutes to hold off the Kings. George scored twice to bring the lead back to nine after Sacramento cut a 12-point fourth quarter deficit to five with 2:22 remaining.
“Kawhi is going to be a process,” Lou told George, speaking of Leonard’s return after missing all of last season due to a torn right ACL. It will take some time.
“Tonight I thought [George] Aggressive, I thought he was great. … PG took us home. ”
