LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 28, 2021

Paul George

Postgame Press Conference

Los Angeles Clippers 118, Dallas Mavericks 108

Q. PG, how hard is it to say composed when the opposition is hitting 20 threes and they are shooting at this historic rate, you're down 19, you have over 10,000 people booing you and somehow you guys come out with a double-digit win.

PAUL GEORGE: I mean, adversity. It's just adversity. We have to deal with adversity. We didn't get down on ourselves. We just stayed positive. We rallied. We toughed it out and you know, we just stuck to our principles and kept playing.

Q. There was a stat shown in the broadcast tonight about how you have upped your drives per game from the regular season to the postseason. You're averaging about 17 drives per game in the series. Has that been an added emphasis for you with the lack of rim protection? Coach talked about them being 29th in rim protection in the league. Is that an added emphasis not only for you but everyone, just get to the rim and see what could happen?

PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, it's just playoff basketball. I just want to attack, put pressure at the rim and try to get to the free throw line a little more. But mainly just attacking. They don't have a rim protector, so it's just trying to get there and put pressure at the basket and if the defense collapses, just making plays. But I'm trying to finish around the rim.

Q. You guys were obviously very confident after Game 2 even though you were down 0-2 in the series and you had reason to be, but where did that confidence come from?

PAUL GEORGE: We felt like we weren't playing our game to begin with to be down 0-2. We felt like we weren't playing our style, and I thought tonight we got to that. This is where we hang our hat on, playing on the defensive side, and we didn't show any defense the first two games.

Q. You guys didn't slow down Luka, but slowed down the rest of the Mavericks. What was the biggest reason for that great defense?

PAUL GEORGE: We just played defense. Played defense and we helped one another. We shrunk the floor and again, we just helped one another out there.

Q. You said on the postgame interview that you talked it out and figured it out. What did you guys figure out? And also what did you and Kawhi in this team show everybody tonight?

PAUL GEORGE: I mean, we've yet to show anything. We're down 2-1. We haven't showed anything. We're not the favorites. We're not the defending champs. We haven't showed anything. We have to continue to keep doing it. We've got to win this series but it's one game at a time. We've got to win Game 4 and send it back to L.A. Take home-court advantage. But off one win, we haven't shown anything.

Q. I understand the point you just made but how do you think you guys changed the complexion of the series, not just with the win but the way you guys played under these circumstances?

PAUL GEORGE: I mean, we played defense. This is the team that we are and the team we've been and the team we need to be, a team that's going to play defense and play hard. Offensively we have enough offensive weapons to get tough baskets and create easy opportunities, as well.

But defensively, it's just where we've got to be great, and I thought tonight we had a ton of flashes of that.

Q. I asked new Game 2 about playing with a smaller lineup, with you and Kawhi being the bigger guys, you said you would look at it and see how that was going to work. You committed even more to it; how do you feel like those players in particular, Nic and Terance impact the interior defense?

PAUL GEORGE: Again, we use you're quickness, we use our athleticism. We just help one another out. No man was on an island and we rotate and help each other.

Q. Your game was super efficient, ten for 14, ten for 14 shooting, 27 points. You had one turnover. A lot of the other games, you had multiple turnovers and you said that was a focus you wanted to get cleaned up late in the season. Talk about your game individually and how that impacted the rest of the group.

PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, I mean, I put a ton of work in this season and now it's just about being confident in my game, being confident for my team. They trust me. They believe in me. I believe in the work that I've put in. So it's just, you know, now it's just using the tools that I've sharpened and just coming out and playing. Playing hard, competing. And just being in attack mode.