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Can LA Clippers handle the pressure as favorites?

By John Jablonka

LA Clippers Kawhi Leonard Paul George Patrick Beverley Lou Williams Montrezl Harrell (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LA Clippers Kawhi Leonard Paul George Patrick Beverley Lou Williams Montrezl Harrell (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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LA Clippers Paul George
LA Clippers Paul George. Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Can George handle the pressure?

Out of these four players, Paul George is certainly the one that is the most interesting. If he was able to handle the pressure, then maybe we aren’t talking about him in Los Angeles and instead, he would be with Russell Westbrook competing for a championship.

Let’s take a trip down George’s career starting in the 2017 playoffs against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Although George did not necessarily have a terrible series by any means, as he averaged 28.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists per game on .386/.429/.867 splits, he did have a quite disappointing must-win Game 4.

During that game, he posted 15 points, seven rebounds, six assists and four steals on 5-of-21 shooting, hitting 3-of-9 from downtown. Not only that, down the stretch, he slipped and almost turned the ball over before he completely bricked the potential game-tying shot.

Fast forward to the 2018 playoffs and the result is the same. The Oklahoma City Thunder were said to compete with the Warriors and they couldn’t even advance to face them. Instead, the team got bounced in the first round by a rookie in Donovan Mitchell and the rest of the Utah Jazz.

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This was the series Playoff P was meant to show up and well, he did — apart from two key games. Game 2, at home, with the Thunder looking to take a 2-0 lead, George fell short. In that game, George put up 18 points, 10 rebounds and one assist on 6-of 21 (28.6 percent) shooting. To add to that, he went 0-for-6 in the fourth quarter.

Then, Game 6 happened:  five points, three rebounds, eight assists, six turnovers on 2-of-16 shooting (12.5 percent). That is certainly not being able to handle the pressure. A performance like that is simply inexcusable.

That is not to say that he cannot handle the pressure at all, but it says something when these moments are the ones that stick out.

Every player has off nights, that is understandable. Your favorite player did have a bad game and a bad series, but those moments are usually not the first thing that comes in mind when thinking of pressure and your player.

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