Due to minutes restrictions, Los Angeles Clippers superstar Paul George was held out of the final minutes of the Clippers loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday, but make no mistake about it – he wanted to play.
“Man, I think you know the answer to that,” George said, according to ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “I was ready to go,” George said, adding that his to was not an issue during the game. “I wanted to keep going.”
George had missed the past 7 games due to a swollen toe which was diagnosed as having a bone edema.
“I’m clear, I’m good to go, as of now,” George said. “It’s an afterthought. I’m healthy, and I feel good.”
“I thought the game kind of got out of hand and we had to bring him back to get the game close,” Clippers head coach Ty Lue said. “And he played well and played good to get us back in it, and then it’s a tough decision.
“But the biggest thing is that he’s healthy, and the biggest thing is the player’s health. We did what we could, but it is what it is.”
George also chimed in about the controversial offensive foul called on Clippers superstar Kawhi Leonard when driving to the basket late in the fourth quarter on Nets’ guard James Harden, who seemed to clearly flop on the play.
“It’s really hard, it’s really hard,” George said. “I mean, I haven’t really got into the flopping game, but in today’s game, it’s smart, you know what I mean?
“It’s smart. They control the refs. They got the refs in their pocket, so kudos to the guys who are great at that part of the game.”
“I mean, they called it, so there’s nothing you can do about it now,” Lue said. “I’m not a big complain guy, but [someone] said [Harden] had his arm before Kawhi was able to push off and he said Harden grabbed his … I don’t know because I didn’t look at it. To me, the game’s over and nothing you can do about it, so it is what it is.”
