George scores 33 in victory

It started as little more than a rumble, a relative whisper in a crowded house Sunday at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

But the words were clear, as was the intent.

The chant began late in the second quarter and picked up steam in

the third quarter of the Thunder’s 110-92 win against the Grizzlies.

“We want Paul! We want Paul!”

Paul George had been the object of Laker desire last week in Los Angeles.

The Oklahoma City faithful wanted a chance to chant.

Their equal time came with George at the freethrow line — first in the second quarter and again in the third — and their sales pitch grew a little louder each trip.

“I loved it,” George said after a 33-point, eight-assist night. “I loved every bit, every

second. It was why I was trying to get to the line, honestly. Trying to hear more of that.”

George laughed when he said it, and his reaction was a far cry from the one he had in L.A., when he said he didn’t hear Laker fans making audible overtures of “We want George!” during the Thunder’s 10681 loss at Staples Center last Thursday.

OKC fans clearly had heard it, and they seemed to learn a little something from the game. So did George. Against the Grizzlies, the Thunder was without starters Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony, who’d missed the Laker loss after spraining ankles two

nights before in a win at Golden State.

That put an added offensive burden on George against L.A., and though he’d scored 29 points, the offense had lacked flow.

George had taken a look back at the game, he said, in the days since.

“I wanted to see what I was missing, what opportunities I was missing,” George said. “I thought I was a little out of my character with how I was trying to play. I thought tonight I got in my rhythm and stayed in my rhythm and played my game.”

There also was “a little bit more chemistry” among Thunder players, George said, in their second game

without Westbrook and Anthony.

That came in part because coach Billy Donovan spent Saturday preparing his team to play without the injured stars. OKC hadn’t practiced on the day in between its games at the Warriors and Lakers last week.

On Saturday, though, the Thunder spent time working on plays with combinations of players who would share the floor in unfamiliar roles against Memphis.

Against the Lakers, George, Raymond Felton and Alex Abrines had shared point guard duties.

On Saturday, Donovan moved Abrines off the ball, starting him at shooting guard in place of Josh Huestis, and keeping the ball in the hands of George and Felton.

The comfort showed.

George was conductor of the offense, and the star — he hit 5 of the Thunder’s franchise-record-tying 16 3-pointers — but it wasn’t a solo performance.

Abrines scored 16 points and made 4 of 7 3-pointers. Felton finished with 14 points, six rebounds and eight assists.

Patrick Patterson looked more settled into his role than he’d been in Los Angeles, and he scored 14 points against the Grizzlies, a season high. Jerami Grant, too, pitched in 14.

Still, George was the driving force behind a win the Thunder controlled almost from the start, leading by as many as 28 points.

“He shot it well, he drove it, he found guys; he did a little bit of everything,” Donovan said. “We tried to open the floor up and put the ball in his hands and let him create in certain situations.”

With George putting on a show — and his potential free agency looming this summer — Thunder fans chanted their appreciation, many shouting “We want Paul” as others yelled “We love Paul!” On Sunday, it was easy to see why.