The Los Angeles Clippers might be up 2-1 on the Dallas Mavericks in their first round series, but it has little to do with Paul George playing well.
His shooting woes continued on Friday when he shot 3-for-16 from the field, including 1-for-8 on 3-point attempts, in the Clippers’ 130-122 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 of their first-round Western Conference series. George admitted he’s mired in a shooting slump, but he added his skill set has never been as just a scorer and shooter. George said he has to try “to do everything” he can on defense and other areas after finishing with 11 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists.
“I’m no James Harden,” George said of how he tries to impact the game on both ends of the floor. “That’s not my knack … to just shoot the ball, score the ball. I can and I pride myself on being effective on both ends. But there’s going to be nights like this where I just can’t make a shot, and I can’t allow that to affect my game.”
“Shot-making … scoring the ball is not what I [only] do,” he added. “I try to do everything, I try to play the game the right way and just get lost in the game and try to pass the ball and make plays defensively, rebound. Just a little bit of everything. I am going through a tough time, but good thing about it, we are up 2-1 in this series and I haven’t shot the ball well.”
George has shot 7-for-33, including just 3-for-18 from beyond the arc, in the past two games combined.
“I think people get so caught up what other people [think],” George said. “I’m Paul George. I don’t care to be anybody else.”
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“I am who I am,” George added. “You [can] love it or you don’t. Simple as that.”
Kawhi Leonard — who scored 36 points in Game 3 and is shooting 34-for-66 (51.5%) while averaging 33.3 points in this series — said George would snap out of his shooting funk.
“I mean, he’s good,” Leonard said. “We all start from scratch again Game 4. You shoot 100% from 3 in two games, three games, doesn’t mean you’re going to shoot well going forward. It’s all from scratch again. This is playoff basketball.
“He’s a confident player, he’s going to turn it around. We got his back.”
