From where Paul George is sitting, something smells foul. Sounds foul.
It’s too quiet. He’s sure he should be hearing more whistles.
Once again Wednesday, the Clippers’ smooth operator lamented the lack of foul calls he has received this season. In this case, George went 5 for 8 at the rim in the Clippers’ loss to Dallas and drew fouls just twice at the rim, resulting in three free throws.
As a team in Wednesday’s 105-89 loss, the otherwise cold-shooting Clippers converted 20 of their 30 attempts at the rim — 12 more attempts at the basket than they had in Monday’s victory over Dallas.
But despite a conscious effort to attack, the Clippers were awarded only 11 free throws Wednesday — and made just six of them. (It might be worth noting that Dallas shot only 12 free throws after going 4 for 5 from the stripe in Monday’s game against the Clippers.)
George said he thinks all the waiting for the calls that aren’t coming is starting to affect him and his teammates, resulting in “a lack of focus finishing around the rim.”
“It’s a fine line,” George said. “I’m not going to use that as a crutch for the reason of jump shots, but I think it’s on your conscience a bit. Like, going to the rim, attacking, you play in crowds so if you’re not gonna get the call, you’re shooting a bad shot, it’s simple as that … So it puts you in a settling (mindset) — take what the defense gives you instead of putting-pressure-on-the-defense type of deal.”
That said, a frustrated George insisted that the Clippers have not been settling.
“We’re putting a lot of pressure at the rim, it’s insane that we’re not getting these calls,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll send a bunch of clips in. League’s gotta take a look at this. … Just a bunch of lies, can’t go too much further than that, it’s a bunch of lies. They know what’s going on.”
The Clippers are shooting free throws at a franchise-record rate of 83.9% this season, but they’re averaging just 19.6 free-throw attempts per game, fewer than all but four teams in the league.
A seven-time All-Star, George is shooting 88.6% from the free-throw line this season, the second best percentage of his career. But he’s averaging only four free throws per game — three fewer than his career high average during the 2018-19 season.
According to ESPN, the Clippers are averaging just 6.6 shots in the paint per game that lead to a foul, fewer than every team except Portland, Denver and Phoenix.
Of course, L.A. also takes just 23 shots per game within 5 feet of the basket, which is fewer than every team but Orlando (22.7), per NBA.com/stats.
George contends the Clippers — who are 26-16 and in fourth in the Western Conference standings entering Saturday’s game against Charlotte at Staples Center — have been aggressive enough to warrant more foul calls.
He suggested they’re being punished for not being better salesmen — although Patrick Beverley has in the past been fined by the NBA for flopping and social media users were quick to share plays that showed instances that Kawhi Leonard exaggerated contact.
“We’re not flopping players, we’re not players that’s like throwing our bodies into other players,” George said. “Like, we play physical, no different than any other player in this league. There’s nothing more that we can do, we’re attacking, we’re putting pressure at the rim. Again, there’s nothing that I feel, unless we just start, you know, just diving and playing a flopping game, there’s really nothing much that we can do.”
CLIPPER KILLER
Luka Doncic loves the Clippers.
Loves to “torch” them, anyway, to use Tyronn Lue’s word.
The Dallas star lit up L.A. for a savvy 42 points on Wednesday, when he also had six rebounds, nine assists, three steals and two blocks.
That brings his gaudy averages in 15 games against the Clippers to 29.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Five times, he’s dropped 35 points or more against them and three times 40-plus points.
For his latest act, he avoided a repeat of Monday, when he tried taking it to Ivica Zubac and found the Clippers’ 7-foot center quite resistant and a big reason Doncic was 3 for 10 in the paint. Instead, in Wednesday’s win, Doncic punished the Clippers from the midrange (where he was 5 for 8) and from long range (6 for 11).
“They’re a really good defensive team,” Doncic told reporters after the victory. “They have really amazing defenders, so it’s kind of tough. These past two games, we played hard and that’s how we’ve got to be ready for the playoffs if we make it.”
Luka (42 PTS & 9 AST) was at his best against the Clippers
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