Sitting George at end of loss ‘difficult’ decision

When Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said abiding by Paul George’s minutes restriction and sitting him for the end of the fourth quarter Sunday was the right call, he was taking the long view.

In the short term, however, the decision kept George, who had scored 12 of his team-high 34 points during the fourth quarter, off the court for the final 2 minutes 50 seconds of a 112-108 loss to Brooklyn. George scored seven points in the two minutes before being pulled, having clocked 33 minutes.

Lue appeared frustrated while confirming that a minutes restriction led to the decision to remove George, who was playing his second game in three days since returning from a toe injury that cost him the previous seven games.

“He played good to get us back in it, and then it’s a tough decision,” Lue said on a videoconference. “The biggest thing is the player’s health. We did what we could but it is what it is.”

Asked how difficult it was to watch at the end, George replied, “I think you know the answer to that.”

George, who finished with seven assists, six rebounds and six turnovers, was inserted to start the fourth quarter because, down by 10, Lue felt the team needed his scoring to get back in the game while Kawhi Leonard caught his breath. The Clippers trailed by six when he checked out and reached a tie with 28 seconds to play before a tipin by Nets center DeAndre Jordan and an offensive foul call decided the game.

“PG did what PG does,” center Ivica Zubac said. “He is an All-Star player. He is a great two-way player. He did exactly what we expect him to do.”

In a victory against Western Conference-leading Utah two days earlier, George’s first game in 12 days, he played 27 minutes and said his conditioning wasn’t where it needed to be to play much longer than that; he has averaged 34 minutes per game this season. Sunday, however, he called himself “good to go” and any lingering pain “an afterthought.”

“I wanted to keep going,” George said, and added he did not know how long he would need to play under a minutes restriction.

Help wanted

Lue felt his team’s offense was more culpable for the loss than the defense. Zubac (13 points) was the only other scorer in double figures. Marcus Morris, who had made 52% of his three-point tries over his last 13 games, was held to five points. So was Lou Williams, who finished two for 11. Nicolas Batum scored three points and has made one of eight shots in two games since returning from a concussion.

Rotating to rotation

With a fully healthy roster, Lue said he will decide whether to use Terance Mann or Luke Kennard as the second guard off the bench based on whether he feels the matchup calls for Mann’s defense or Kennard’s shooting.

“Both of those guys understand that you can’t play 11 to 12 guys in this league,” Lue said.

Sunday was Mann’s night as Kennard did not play for a second consecutive game by coach’s decision.

TONIGHT VS. WASHINGTON

When: 7 On the air: TV: Prime Ticket; Radio: 570, 1330 Update: Led by guard Bradley Beal, the league’s scoring leader at 32.9 points per game, the Wizards will be playing their second game in as many nights at Staples Center after visiting the Lakers on Monday. Washington entered the game riding a four-game winning streak. One year after he was traded to Washington, former Clippers firstround pick Jerome Robinson has played 13 games and shot 32%.