Double team? Not a problem
Paul George pivoted, but the Clippers’ Patrick Beverley and Tobias Harris shifted with him, moving as one fourhanded being, chests closing in on George.
Then George saw him: Thunder forward Jerami Grant floating in from the perimeter, left wide open as he stutter-stepped into the paint.
“Honestly, I think that’s the easiest way for me to get myself going,” George said after that Dec. 15 game. “… They put two on the ball, find the open guy.”
George’s December has understandably caught the attention of teams around the league. The Thunder small forward has hurled himself into the MVP conversation by averaging 31.4 points per game in the month of December, second to only
Houston’s James Harden (34.2), and continuing to
play stifling defense.
Opposing teams have resorted to doubleteaming George, especially as Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook’s scoring efficiency has waned. Even on a night like Sunday, however, when Westbrook was getting to the rim, George continued to inspire over-helping.
As George demonstrated when he was caught in a trap set by Beverley and Harris, with 12 seconds left in a six-point game, he’s perfectly comfortable passing out of a double team.
George reached just far enough around Beverley to send a bounce pass to Grant, who slammed down a one-handed dunk to secure the win for the Thunder.
In OKC’s next game, a 121-96 drubbing of Chicago last week, George went off for 23 points in the first half. How were the Bulls going to try to slow down a player that hadn’t missed a single second-quarter shot? Double team him.
“And you know, what does he do?” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said after the game. “He just facilitates. He just gets other guys involved. He had a ton of hockey assists tonight, where he threw the ball to a guy that made the next pass that led to the assist. But that’s the whole thing with him, is he just plays the game the right way.”
George’s increase in scoring has lined up with Westbrook’s struggles in the same area. Westbrook shot over 50 percent from the field for the first time this month in the Thunder’s 114-112 loss to the Timberwolves Sunday. That’s made the choice to double team George easier.
As George’s scoring has increased, however, his assist numbers have also seen a slight uptick, from 4.3 per game before Dec. 1 to 4.6 this month.
George is the kind of player who would rather not have plays specifically run for him, and he has told Donovan as much. So it makes sense that he also describes passing out of a trap as the “easiest way” to get into a rhythm.
“I think it gets everybody involved,” George said. “When they get two on me it gives the next man an opportunity to make plays and be involved in offense, and they make great plays out of it. I trust everybody in uniform here.”
THUNDER AT ROCKETS
•When: 2 p.m., Tuesday
•Where: Toyota Center, Houston
•TV: ABC (KOCO — Cox 8/ HD 705, Dish 5, DirecTV 5, U-verse 5/1005)
•Radio: WWLS-AM 640/98.1 FM
Three things to know
•The Rockets will be without starters Chris Paul and James Ennis, who are each battling hamstring injuries. The Thunder beat the Rockets 98-80 with both players in the starting lineup on Nov. 8.
•Despite his shooting struggles, Russell Westbrook has only had a negative net rating (point differential per 100 possessions) in six of his 24 games this season. The Thunder is 2-4 in those games.
•In 11 games this month, Paul George is averaging 31.4 points, 9.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game, while shooting 51.8 percent overall, 45.7 percent from 3, and 85.2 percent from the free throw line.