Clippers star Paul George is ready to lead, and he doesn't care what critics think
Paul George barely had time to savor the night of June 14 before a new day — and dramatically changed circumstances — arrived.
For three hours that night, Staples Center had rocked as the Clippers routed the top-seeded Utah Jazz, tying a series they once trailed by two games in a victory that seemed like a harbinger of a deep playoff run.
By scoring 30 points apiece for a second consecutive victory, George and Kawhi Leonard, the All-Star Clippers teammates playing in their fourth playoff series together, had finally begun to display the might of their postseason tandem.
But in the fourth quarter, the arena fell quiet when Leonard exited, favoring his right knee.
"I kind of had a feeling that night that it might be the end of Kawhi, at least for the next couple games," George said. "I knew, all right, I know Kawhi, he's going to make it through it and give us whatever he's got. I just got to get us to that point. And that was my mindset."
George arrived in
