PHOENIX - After going for a 40-point triple-double against Devin Booker in Game 1, Paul George said the Phoenix Suns present a different challenge to the LA Clippers.
After beating Luka Doncic and Donovan Mitchell in the first two rounds, the Clippers will now have to find a way to slow Booker. With Chris Paul in health and safety protocol, Booker was an unstoppable playmaker, providing 40 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists to lift the Suns to a 120-114 win over the Clippers on Sunday at the Phoenix Suns Arena.
The Clippers lag behind in each of their previous series before making adjustments. And he believes he will do the same again against Phoenix.
"It's a different caliber team than the other two teams we faced," George said of the Suns in comparison to the Mavericks and Jazz. "A little more guard play. And so we just have to figure out how to compete, which we will do. We'll figure out another game plan.
"As much as we wanted it, I think it was a good feel-out game to see the adjustments. We're making great adjustments, and you know, we're playing better as the series progresses." Huh."
Once again, George rose to the occasion when Kawhi Leonard missed his third straight game due to a sprained right knee. George scored 34 points and hit seven 3-pointers, the third time he has done so in the regular season and later this season against the Suns.
But according to research from ESPN Stats & Information, Booker overtook George to become just the fourth player in conference finals history to record a 40-point triple double.
Complicating his ability to slow Booker was an injury to Marcus Morris Sr. According to ESPN's Rachel Nichols, the starting power experienced left knee pain and received treatment on it.
Morris, who gives the Clippers flexibility when they move to a shorter lineup to help them switch defensively, didn't start the second half. He tried to play but could only go for five minutes after halftime and sat in the final 9:05 of the fourth quarter.
Clippers coach Ty Lew said he wasn't sure how Morris was doing after the game.
The Clippers could not contain Booker in the second half, when the Sun guard had 29 points, eight assists and seven rebounds throughout the half.
This is the third straight Game 1 in which the Clippers could not contain the opposing Star. In Game 1 of the first round against Dallas, Doncic scored 31 points in the Mavericks' triple-double, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. In Game 1 of the second round against Utah, Mitchell had 45 points in the Jazz victory.
Clippers point guard Reggie Jackson said of the defense's new challenge, "[Booker] played with the ball, but he does a great job at playing with the ball, whether it's off the screen, keeping himself open, really. I'm really good." Booker. "The other two [Doncic and Mitchell], actually [they're more] for the 3-ball and [getting] the guys at the rim. They're all three-level scorers.
"[But with Booker], it's difficult when you put so much pressure to come downhill and then he pulls up. He's the whole package. We have to find a way to bottle him."
The Clippers are expected to be without Leonard, whose position for the Western Conference Finals remains uncertain, in Game 2. And now Morris is hit. But George believes the Clippers will do what they did in each of the first two rounds when they became the first team in NBA history to pull off a 2-0 deficit in multiple series in the same postseason .
"I hope we get better as the series progresses," George said. "We've been pretty good at it. There's nothing to panic at this point. You know, we were down Kavi. We're playing with a banging Marcus. Yeah, they don't even have Chris Paul, but it's a bit of an adjustment. The game is there. We will figure out what we need to do to do better."
DeMarcus Cousins, who scored 11 points, said the Clippers would figure things out.