Player Grades: OKC Thunder third quarter malaise leads to Pelicans victory in final pre-break game
SF. Oklahoma City Thunder. PAUL GEORGE. A-.
After beasting in the majority of the OKC Thunder 57 games Paul George had what we might consider a mediocre game for him. Crazy to call a 28 point, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, steal, block performance mediocre, but dive in a little deeper and you can understand that statement.
He put up 17 (yes SEVENTEEN) perimeter shots and connected on just three. Like most of the Thunder, their defense lacked its typical aggression and zip.
George took more than half of the third quarter to register his first points and while it is unfair to place everything on the stars shoulders a typical scoring night with equal scoring distribution in every quareter can sometimes be the minor factor in a loss.
Again, we can forgive Paul George for not bringing the defensive intensity for the full 48 minutes (or 41 in his case) as he’s been spectacular to this point in the season.