LA Clippers guard Paul George said he had a conversation with a referee when things escalated with Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul and Devin Booker, which led to technical fouls on George and Booker in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
After scoring 39 points and hitting seven triples to lead the Clippers to a 112-107 victory in Phoenix, George suggested he heard “a lot of chirping” dealing with his bubble fights in last postseason in Orlando, Florida.
“You have to ask them,” George said when asked what happened to Paul and Booker. “I was talking to the referee, CP jumped up and up from there. Like I said, I never had words to speak, there was never an altercation, there was always peace when I’m on the floor, but for whatever reason, there’s a lot chirping and people live only in the past.
“Last year was last year. I’m in a new situation; I’m in a different mindset. Any of the hate stuff, you have to ask them. I don’t know where this is coming from.”
After he and Booker were hit with double technical errors in the 7th minute with 20 seconds left in the game, George scored five points and then found an open Nicolas Batum for a 3-pointer that sealed the Clippers victory with 11.9 seconds left. . Shortly before the technical mistakes on George and Booker, the Suns reduced a deficit of 60-29 to 96-94, with 9:10 left in the game.
“We had a tough year last year,” George said in a postgame field interview with the Clippers. “People think it’s sweet, man, people think it’s sweet because I was down. I haven’t heard any of this, my 10 years in the league, but last year, people living last year. I’m ready to I’m competing. I’m back. “
When asked what George told Booker that led to the technical mistakes, the Suns guard said he didn’t remember.
“It’s nothing, honestly,” Booker said after the Suns’ four-game winning streak was broken. “Nothing.”
George is starting a strong season and is only the third different player in NBA history to have at least 30 triples in his team’s first seven games of the season. This comes after a candidate George revealed during a bubble fall that he suffered some depression while on the NBA campus in Orlando and away from loved ones. The Clippers would later give a 3-1, two-run streak in three straight losses to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the playoffs.
George and Kawhi Leonard fought in Game 7 against Denver, George shooting 4-for-16 and scoring 10 points, while Leonard finished 6-for-22 with 14 points.
Before the playoffs in early August, Patrick Beverley and George engaged in a back-and-forth discussion session with Portland’s Damian Lillard on social media after Beverley mocked Lillard for pointing at his wrist. hand and greeting him after the All-Star Blazers missed the late free throws in a loss to the Clippers in the ball.
Lillard later reminded reporters of what he had done to both George and Beverley in past meetings and how he sent home to George and the Oklahoma City Thunder the previous postseason, which led to more comments on the social networks. That was more than a month before the disappearance of the Clippers playoff against Denver.
George said he found his off-season motivation from criticism of his ball game.
“Absolutely,” said George. “And that’s why I came in this year focused. I’ve heard all the noise and I’m using it for motivation.”
With Leonard battling a 4-for-21 shootout night against the Suns, George hit 6 of his first 9 3-point attempts and had 32 points entering the fourth quarter. Booker scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth to help Phoenix nearly clear the 31-point deficit.
But George said he was surprised to hear talk of him.
“I don’t talk, I play my game,” George said. “It simply came to our notice then. I’ve never heard people talk [before], and it was never directed at me, but for some reason it’s a lot of mouth. And it’s ok. I have to play that far.
“I’m going to go through the fire. It’s okay. As long as we come out on top, we win and I help my team win. That’s all that matters. Save the rest, they can do whatever they want. I’m stuck and it’s more about that I am calm and quiet. “