DALLAS — With 3:01 left in the first quarter, LA Clippers All-Star small forward Paul George picked up his second foul in Friday’s 101-90 Game 3 loss to the Mavericks. Dallas backup small forward Josh Green had terminated his dribble coming off of a ball screen set by rookie center Dereck Lively II and was a non-threat to score, but George pressured the ball aggressively. Perhaps he was too aggressive, considering George’s assignment and the fact that George had already picked up a foul trying to defend center Daniel Gafford on a lob pass.
The foul sent George to the bench, with the Clippers leading 19-14, and brought starting point guard James Harden into the game. Harden had only rested for 42 seconds, but the Clippers needed an offensive system, and All-Star power forward Kawhi Leonard was too limited by his bothersome right knee after playing the first six minutes.
In a vacuum, first-quarter foul trouble is rather insignificant, especially for a two-way star like George. He’s a veteran who has had to navigate foul trouble before while being able to fulfill his duties on both ends of the floor as a game goes along. But George has failed to find his rhythm in this series, and foul trouble has been a main culprit.
“It’s been the past three games,” George said after finishing Game 3 with more fouls (five) than field goals made (3-of-11). “I don’t know what it is. I thought this was playoff basketball. A couple of them have just been touch fouls. And I don’t know.”
In the Clippers’ two losses, George has as many fouls (10) as field goals made (out of 25 attempts). George’s foul trouble in Game 3 was an issue in every single quarter, negatively affecting the Clippers in a game that was marred by seven reviews at the scorer’s table, including four hostile-act reviews. Game 3 had five technical fouls, a Flagrant 1 on Russell Westbrook, and simultaneous ejections for Westbrook and Mavericks power forward P.J. Washington.
But before any of the chippiness got bellicose, George struggled to defend without fouling and couldn’t focus on scoring. The Clippers still had a lead at the end of the first quarter despite George having to sit, but they weren’t able to extend it. George then lasted only 99 seconds in the second quarter after fouling Gafford again in the midst of a 9-0 Dallas run. The Clippers never led again. George had five points at halftime, and the Clippers were on the wrong end of unanswered scoring runs of 12 and 11 points by Dallas.
While George has struggled to stay out of foul trouble on one end, he has been met with significant resistance when the Clippers have the ball. George did not draw a single foul in Game 3 and has only drawn seven in this series. For context, Mavericks MVP candidate Luka Dončić drew 10 personal fouls in Game 3 alone, including both of George’s fouls in the second half.
“We try to attack guys that are in foul trouble, for sure,” said Dončić, who had the worst shooting performance of his postseason career in Game 3 (22 points on 7-of-25 shooting from the field). “They aren’t going to be that aggressive. Especially if it’s a good defender, you know, you got to go at him.”
Following Game 2, George felt like answering questions about defending without fouling was “a setup question,” though he acknowledged that he needed to stay positive and do better by “playing the game that’s within the game.” George lamented further after Game 3 about what he felt was a lack of consistency depending on which team had the basketball.
“Defense can be physical, they can be aggressive on me,” George said. “Other side of it, I pick up quick, cheap ones. And, you know, it’s frustrating. But I got to be better — I got to be better.”
George being in foul trouble has killed his offensive flow. In a game where Harden wound up playing 43:55 and Leonard was only able to score nine points in 24:32, George scored two points on 1-of-6 shooting in the second half.
“I felt good, rhythm-wise, to start the game off,” George said. “And then pick up those, get sent to the bench, and then it just felt like the whole game, I couldn’t find how to be aggressive and create contact and balance all of that out while trying to stay within the offense and move the ball and play off the ball, play aggressive downhill. It was just a lot I was thinking about. Took me out of my game. I got to be better. It’s frustrating, though.”
George’s experience was not the same as Mavericks shooting guard Kyrie Irving, who picked up his fourth foul with 9:36 left in the third quarter and had only two points when he was sent to the bench. Irving returned to the game later in the third quarter after the Clippers cut an 18-point Dallas lead to six points and either scored or assisted on Dallas’ last 10 points to close the period. Nineteen of Irving’s 21 points came after his fourth foul, and the Clippers never got within 11 points of the lead at any point of the fourth quarter.
“I’d like to continue my streak of not fouling out of games,” said Irving, who has now played 806 regular season and postseason games without fouling out and has never had more fouls than field goals in his 77 career postseason games. “I like to think of myself as a valuable asset out there. So, just got to play smart and also understand that they’re going to be targeting me a little bit and just be able to respond and just use my IQ to the best of my ability. It’s not going to be the last time that I have four fouls.”
George’s foul trouble is hurting the Clippers beyond his own ability to produce. The Clippers outscored the Mavericks by seven points in George’s minutes off the floor in Games 1 and 2. But the Mavericks outscored the Clippers by 18 points in George’s minutes off the floor prior to garbage time of Game 3.
Harden’s workload is also a concern going into Game 4, while Leonard’s status remains a question mark throughout the series, if not the postseason, should the Clippers advance. Leonard expects to play in Game 4, but it is clear that he can’t defend or attack like a player who can carry a team at the moment. Leonard had as many turnovers (four) as field goals (4-of-7) in Game 3. He also acknowledged George can’t do it alone.
“We got to help him just get more open looks,” Leonard said. “They’re doing a good job shrinking the floor, making sure that we have no penetration to get to the paint.”
There’s a lot on the line for George, Leonard and this entire Clippers era. Losing would put them on the brink of elimination. Winning would reset the series. George understands how pivotal his presence on the floor is, and he hasn’t played a 40-minute game yet, unlike Harden, Dončić or Irving. The Clippers have had their rhythm thrown off in back-to-back losses because key starters can’t stay out of foul trouble. A lot of responsibility will be on George come Sunday, and he’ll need to figure out how to stay on the floor.
“It puts pressure on James (Harden) — James had to play 44 minutes,” George said of his repeated foul trouble. “It just puts us out of sync, now (Clippers head coach Tyronn) T. Lue is in his rotations earlier than expected, guys aren’t playing at the times they’re used to playing. It just throws the whole team off. So, I take the blame on that.”
(Photo of George: Harry How /Getty Images)
