Paul George and Kawhi Leonard did their best to go head to head with the Big Three of the Brooklyn Nets.
But during the Nets’ 124-120 victory over the visiting LA Clippers in a game that rose to publicity, the Clippers star duo couldn’t keep up with Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving, especially on the foul line. . The Brooklyn star’s trio combined to get 16 to 16 off the line.
Leonard was 8-for-9 on the line, but George went to the line only once in 36 minutes.
“I mean, I think it was disrespectful that we had a free throw attempt today,” said George, who had 26 points and six assists. “I’m going to leave this.”
The Clippers went to the line only 17 times, compared to the Nets’ 26 trips.
George’s only free-kick came when he led and scored against former teammate Landry Shamet under the basket with 6 minutes, 58 seconds remaining in the game. George almost had to make contact before giving up the smaller Shamet to get the whistle. His three-point game gave the Clippers a 102-97 lead with 6:58.
But in a game with five perennial All-Stars on the floor, George felt disrespected by the officer’s crew.
“The amount of parts we initiated or made contact with,” George argued. “And to be sent to the line [one] time … “
The Nets came back after losing 149-146 to the Washington Wizards, surviving a Clippers team that had won 10 of the previous 11 games. Irving led all scorers with 39 points, Durant had 28 points and nine rebounds, and Harden scored a 23-point triple-double, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
“Like I said last night, I took that personal person just because I couldn’t guard anyone,” Irving said of the loss to the Wizards, who received 41 points from Russell Westbrook and 37 from Bradley Beal.
Leonard scored 33 points to go with 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
While George could not reach the line, he and the Clippers discovered in a span of 2½ minutes how explosive the Nets super trio is.
Durant hit a 7-footer. Irving scored eight straight points. Harden then drilled a step back 3 to complete a 13-0 flash.
When asked what the Clippers learned from the defense of the Nets’ big three, who can help them in the long run, Nic Batum answered immediately.
“One thing’s for sure: we miss Pat Bev tonight,” Batum said of injured Patrick Beverley, who is injured in the knee. “We forget a lot about this guy, I think. It would be huge for us tonight, so Pat Bev, come back, please.”