LA Clippers guard Paul George said he was talking to a referee when things got worse with Phoenix Suns guards, Chris Paul and Devin Booker, leading to technical fouls against George and Booker in the fourth period on Sunday.
After scoring 39 points and hitting seven points out of 3 to take the Clippers to a 112-107 victory in Phoenix, George suggested that he heard “lots of chirps” that had to do with his bubble fight during the last postseason in Orlando, Florida.
“You have to ask them,” said George when asked about what happened to Paul and Booker. “I was talking to the judge, the CP intruded and started climbing from there. As I said, I never said anything, there was never a fight, there was always peace when I was on the ground, but for whatever reason, there is a lot of chirping and people just living in the past.
“Last year was last year. I’m in a new situation; I’m in a different mindset. Any of those hateful things, you have to ask them. I don’t know where this is coming from.”
After he and Booker were hit with double technical fouls with 7 minutes and 20 seconds left in the game, George scored five points and then found a Nicolas Batum open for a 3-pointer that sealed the Clippers’ victory with 11.9 seconds remaining. Just before the technical fouls on George and Booker, the Suns reduced the deficit from 60-29 to 96-94 with 9:10 remaining in the game.
“I had a rough year last year,” George said in his post-game interview on the court for the Clippers broadcast. “People think it’s cute, man, people think it’s cute because I was down. I didn’t hear any of that in my 10 years in the league, but last year, people lived that year. And I have to answer that. And I’m ready to compete. I’m back. “
When asked what George told Booker that led to technical fouls, the Suns guard said he did not remember.
“It’s nothing, honestly,” Booker said after the Suns’ four-game winning streak ended. “Is nothing.”
George had a strong start to the season and is only the third different player in NBA history to have at least 30 points out of 3 in the first seven games of the season. This happened after a candid George revealed, during a bubble crash, that he experienced some depression while on the NBA campus in Orlando and away from his loved ones. The Clippers would later break a 3-1 lead in the series and double digits 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, with George making 4 of 16 and scoring 10 points, while Leonard finished 6 of 22 with 14 points.
Before the playoffs in early August, Patrick Beverley and George engaged in a small chat session with Damian Lillard from Portland on social media after Beverley mocked Lillard by pointing at his wrist and waving at him after the Blazers All-Star failed bids free at the end of a loss to the Clippers in the bubble.
Lillard later reminded reporters what he had done to George and Beverley at previous meetings and how he sent George and the Oklahoma City Thunder home in the previous postseason, which led to more comments on social media. That was more than a month before the Clippers’ playoff melt against Denver.
George said he found motivation in the off-season with criticism of his bubble game.
“Absolutely,” said George. “And that’s why I came this year focused. I heard all the noise and I use all that noise as a motivation.”
With Leonard fighting for a night of shooting 4 out of 21 against the Suns, George hit 6 of his first 9 attempts at 3 points and made 32 points in the fourth period. Booker scored 12 of his 25 points in the fourth game to help Phoenix almost eliminate the 31-point deficit.
But George said he was surprised to hear a conversation addressed to him.
“I don’t speak, I play my game,” said George. “For some reason, guys are talking. Like, I never heard anyone talking [before], and it was never directed at me, but for some reason it is talked about a lot. And that’s fine. I have to play for this.
“I’m going to get through the fire. Okay. As long as we come out on top, we’ll win and I’m helping my team win. That’s all that matters. Save the rest, they can do whatever they want. Locked up and it’s more about me being at peace and at ease. “