LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 30, 2021

Paul George

Postgame Press Conference

Los Angeles Clippers 106, Dallas Mavericks 81

Q. Coach goes with Nic to start tonight in Zu and he has been such a can you talk about his versatility defending Luka tonight and walling him off from the paint?

PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, he can guard multiple positions. You know, he just makes us a lot more quicker and we're able to use our lanes, our quickness, our speed. And we're flying, we're flying across that defensive end, making plays and helping each other out.

So he takes a lot of wasted energy on myself or Kawhi having to guard him the whole game. He steps up and takes the matchup, as well. It's great. We get a breather on that end at times.

Q. You mentioned last game that you put a lot of work into this season sharpening your skills, and obviously I'm sure you've been reminded plenty about all the appearances, and you said you were coming back with a vengeance and everything. Who has been in your ear, not necessarily on the team, who has constantly encouraged you and kept you sharp both with your skillset and also with your mindset throughout the season and into the playoffs?

PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, I mean, I just got an incredible supporting cast around me. I've got outside of my team, I have my own personal team that's been unbelievable, and so it's paying off. My strength coach, Ryan Capretta; my agent, Aaron Mintz; my basketball guy, Noah LaRoche, those guys are my peeps. They are the ones that have helped me along this journey and to get me to this point. So shout-out to those guys for just keeping me locked in and focused.

Q. What was it like playing in an arena with 70,000-plus people? And how did Luka seem today?

PAUL GEORGE: It was fun. It's fun playing in these environments. This is what playoff basketball; we missed so much from last year to coming into the season, and now we're up to this point where you're starting to see arenas be at full capacity.

It's awesome to play in these environments. I mean, as for Luka, I mean, not sure how much he was bothered by the neck. He still managed to get 24 of them up. You know, it's just tough. He's putting the team on his back and with their offense, he had to do so much. I'm sure it's wearing on him. He has to do so much for them so our job is just to continue to keep putting pressure on them.

Q. You and Kawhi have been relentless the last like three games or so. Wondering as the leaders of this team, what have you seen in Kawhi, like he's set the tone for the team, firing you up, you firing him up, and what have you seen from Kawhi leadership-wise that's helped you lead this team, too?

PAUL GEORGE: I think we both have just did an incredible job complementing each other. He's all-out driving, attacking, putting pressure on them, their bigs at the rim, and myself, as well. When he needs a break, when he needs a breather, now I'm in attack mode and I'm trying to give him a break. I think we're just doing a great job countering each other, and you know, it's fun. This is ultimately what we wanted to get to, being able to share the court together and do it on both ends.

Q. Have both of you been vocal, especially when you guys were down 0-2?

PAUL GEORGE: Yeah, yeah, we spent a lot of time together through that stretch where we were 0-2.