LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 7, 2020

Paul George

Postgame Press Conference

Clippers 113, Nuggets 107

Q. Paul, just wanted to ask you two questions. This game offensively that you had tonight, Kawhi was struggling a little bit. You stepped up your offensive game. Is this kind of like what you envisioned like you and Kawhi being a tandem together? And two, when he made that block on Jamal Murray, have you ever seen a player block a shot with his middle finger like Kawhi did?

PAUL GEORGE: That's an extra long middle finger. Like it kept growing or something. That's Kawhi, man. Big-time player, in the mix is something else.

But I've got to help him. I've got to help him. Kawhi's done more than enough down this stretch. Some nights it's not going to be his night and I have to be myself. I have to help him, pull the weight, make plays, make shots. It's just, you know, give him credit, getting us this far, but he can't go into every game with that pressure that he's got to be great on both ends. Offensively, some nights it's going to be rough.

It was emphasis, when I saw, you know, I had it going early, I just kept attacking, stayed aggressive. Just let the game come to me.

Q. Lou Williams said the guys decided in the fourth quarter they really didn't want to lose this game tonight. Is that something you felt in the fourth quarter when the intensity picked up from everybody?

PAUL GEORGE: Absolutely. You know, we felt it. I'm sure you guys saw it. We were not going to be the team that lost tonight.

Q. So obviously Jokic is a handful for everybody. What did you make of the job that Zub did on him today and what did you make of Jokic doing Jokic things out there?

PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, he's great. He's one of a kind at that position. I thought Zub did a great job. We told him, he's a great player. What you have to do, though. Just make it tough for him. If he makes shots, he makes shots but it can't be easy. He's got to be worn down. He's got to be tired.

And going to that next game, he's got to remember how tough it was and I thought Zub did that. It's tough. It's just tough he gets those calls. He throws his body around. You know, it's tough. Same thing Pat said. He puts the pressure on the refs. Some of those are going are fouls but he gets it. You know, you just tell Zub, he's just got to continue to battle. He gets those calls, he gets him. Got to keep it going.

Q. Can you talk about --

PAUL GEORGE: I think it's basketball. It's basketball. We're not a perfect team by any means. This game is made on stretches. One team gets hot, gets going. Other team rallies back. But this game is always predicated on whoever plays defense first, wins, and I thought we incorporated that to put this game away.

Q. You know, you guys really tightened up there defensively, especially right before halftime and then in the second half there. We've seen what this team is capable of when you guys are really locked in defensively. Just what do you think it's going to take to start off the game with that consistent effort? I know Denver is a great offensive team but to avoid getting down by double-digits like that.

PAUL GEORGE: Look at film. See what we can identify to get us off to a better start defensively, and we'll go from there.

Again, we're not perfect. Never said we were. That's an area that we have to clean up. We'll address it tomorrow. Try to be better for Game 4.

Q. I'm just curious, Pat post game said that Jokic presented similar issues as Doncic did in the herky-jerky style game, sort of flails a bit, as well. We saw some frustration from Zub. How much do you enjoy seeing the frustration or the emotion about caring so much about playing, and if you could just speak a bit more about to the job that Zub has done on Jokic so far this series.

PAUL GEORGE: I mean, that's how it feels. That's how it should be, Game 2. It weighed on Zub. You could tell. Game 3, he wanted to make an impact.

You know, like I said, we talked to him. He's a great player. Great players, you tip your hat when they make tough shots, but they have got to make tough shots. That's just what it is. You know, Zub, he's not going to stop him to some degree. He's going to score his baskets; he's good. But he's got to make it just tough. I think he's doing a great job on him. It's what you want to see in young player when they want to take that challenge, and you know, like I said, that Game 2, that whole game is weighing on him so bad about his performance.

Game 3, he came out challenging. Nothing but great things I saw from Zub tonight.

Q. They kept showing the families cheering on the TV broadcast. Did you notice having real fans in the building today and what's that experience been like?

PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, it's great. That's great. It's the only bit of noise you hear outside of the hoops. It's great we got our whole squad here. We got a big support system here. So that's great. Makes it feel somewhat like home.