INGLEWOOD, CA — Paul George stood in the visitor’s locker room at the Los Angeles Clippers’ brand new Intuit Dome late Wednesday night and fielded a host of questions. Many reporters who covered George during his half-decade run with the Clippers attempted to gauge how the nine-time All-Star felt about returning to his hometown as the opposition, witnessing the opening of a state-of-the-art arena for which he was supposed to be a primary attraction and the negative reaction he received from Clippers fans in attendance.
A batch of noteworthy quotes from George about his “emotional” day, plus Sixers head coach Nick Nurse and wing Kelly Oubre Jr. on the team’s continued struggles after a 118-98 loss:
MORE: Sixers 98, Clippers 118
• George on receiving a tribute video from the Clippers, which was met with a mix of cheers and boos (George was otherwise booed for the entirety of the game):
“It was awesome. I’ve always said this organization is first-class, and it’s very appreciated.”
• George on the state of his emotions heading into his return to Los Angeles:
“The emotions were, they were high. My emotions were high. It was, obviously, a lot of love here. Family, a lot of family within this organization so it was emotional. Any time I tried to lock in and get prepared, I look over and see someone that I knew and instantly, it took me out of that mindset of get prepared and try to lock back in. There’s another person. Those moments, it makes it difficult trying to get preparation down, but outside of that, I tried to just play and keep everything within that rectangle out there.“
• George on being booed heavily for much of the game:
“I mean, it’s stupid. I was a free agent. It wasn’t something [like] I demanded a trade or went against the team here. I was a free agent. This team presented something that was team-friendly and I did what was best for me in that situation. So, there were some cheers. I appreciate them. Those are the [fans] that I played hard for. The boos, I didn’t get it. I still don’t get it when I go to Indy, but it is what it is. It’s sports. That’s what’s in sports. I look forward to next year being back here and [hearing] more boos.”
• George on his relationship with James Harden:
“Ain’t no bad blood… I talked to those guys throughout the whole process. James was informed of what I was doing. Kawhi [Leonard] was informed of what I was doing. [Russell Westbrook] was informed of what I was doing. I talked to all those guys so there was no bad blood. At the end of the day, regardless of if we’re teammates or not, those are lifelong bonds that you build. Basketball, whatever happens in basketball, doesn’t affect that relationship.“
• Nurse on Tyrese Maxey, who left the game with hamstring tightness:
“I don’t think [Maxey will miss time]. I don’t have any idea at this point. But again, just precautionary. Really precautionary… That type of game, there was not much of a reason to try to push him through.”
• Nurse on the team’s significant turnover issues in the loss:
“We’re just having a tough time getting [the ball] out to the next pass… It just seemed like the 20 turnovers felt like more than that, to be honest. Obviously, they capitalized on a lot of them as well. 27 points off turnovers was just too many to give up.”
• Nurse on George’s performance and workload (George only logged 24 minutes after playing 32 in his season debut):
“You kind of set that [minutes restriction] at 25-ish, 25-to-30-ish, and see how the game is going. I think the way the game was going, he was getting a lot of attention, lots of double-teams, all those ends of things and I just didn’t want him in that circumstance… He had some good buckets and split some pretty good defenses at times as well.”
• Nurse on Oubre’s recent difficulties staying out of foul trouble (Oubre has committed 16 fouls over the last three games):
“We’ve talked about it a little bit, and we’re trying to get him to be a little bit more physical at the start of plays instead of at the end. I think they’re allowing some pretty good hand-checking and bodying out on the floor. But then once they get past a certain point, you’ve kind of got to get your hands up and show them instead of reaching down or whatever, they’re going to call those… You’ve got to be a little bit smarter. He had some tough ones tonight. I mean, he got pushed into a screen a couple of times and he got hung up on a hold. And a lot of times on those holds, they catch the second guy. He had some tough ones.”
• Oubre on what he must do to stay out of foul trouble moving forward:
“Just be better, be more disciplined, be in the right spots — which I thought I was a lot of times, but I’ve got to watch the film, continue to make sure they can’t hit me with any ticky-tacks. Obviously, the game is about showmanship nowadays. So I think the sellers get the calls, and I’ve just got to be in the right spot and make sure I’m away from danger.”
• Oubre on if George’s presence helped enable his strong offensive showing (18 points, 8-of-12 shooting from the field):
“Absolutely. He’s such a talented player, he creates a lot of eyes on him when he’s on the court, so the floor opens up. But for me, it’s not just about getting in there and just shooting, it’s about making the right play, making the right reads.”
• Oubre on the most frustrating part of the team’s 1-6 start:
“It’s always like a five-minute or three-minute spurt… I wouldn’t say we fold, but we’ve got to keep it very frank: those teams go up 10 or 12, then the game is blown open. So I think we need to fix the five-minute spurts where these guys kind of break away from us.”
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