OKC Thunder has proved to be a late bloomer ending the season with a five-win streak and social media is LOVING it (for the most part). Let’s dive in.
Paul George shatters ‘Westbrook stigma’:
Though Russell Westbrook has been dubbed a clout chaser, Paul George debunked the lukewarm take that Westbrook only makes teammates worse after his game-winner over Houston.
In his last season with Indiana, he averaged 23.7 points through 75 games. The Pacers went 0-4 in the Playoffs despite PG averaging 28 points over four games. In 2017, he ended the March/April portion of the season averaging 28.5 points in 22 games.
In his first season with the OKC Thunder, Paul George regressed ever-so-slightly to average 21.9 points in 77 games played, shooting 40 percent from the perimeter. OKC went six games deep with Utah in the Playoffs, in which PG averaged 24.7 points as OKC went 2-4.
This season, Paul George came to life on the court. As of April 10, he is averaging 28 points through 77 games played with 31 games of 30 plus points. After missing the first two games of March, he finished the month averaging 26.2 points, with his lowest scoring game still achieving a double-double at 14 points and 11 defensive rebounds. Not to mention, PG earned his third-ever triple-double, and highest scoring trip-dub (47 points) against Portland in February.
In his last season with Indiana, PG had nineteen games with 30 plus points and only one 40-point game occurring in the last month of the season. With OKC this season, PG has put up seven 40 plus games, and never ended with single-digit scoring.
According to Carson Cunningham with local station KOCO-TV, Paul George lacked his stellar final seconds performances before playing in blue and orange. Before his numerous game-winners this season, he was 0-14 in his career.
After OKC’s sensational clutch time win over Houston on Tuesday, Paul George demolished the stigma against Westbrook telling a TNT reporter:
"He’s not getting enough credit for it. Honestly, just watching him close up- like I’ve been preaching all year, he just leaves everything on the floor. The reason I came back here is because I want to play with a guy like that."
Even if you wanted to label Russ infamous for ‘stat-padding’ (you shouldn’t), you can’t pad assists. You certainly can’t pad assists to the point where you average a triple-double for three straight seasons. And, you definitely can’t pad game-winning assists. Shall I go on?
Since no one ever seems to notice these: Russel Westbrook passed up a contested PUJIT 3 for the win and passed to Paul George for the gamewinner. Westbrook's 5th assist in a 3-point game under 30 seconds this season, third most in the league.
— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) April 10, 2019
And just in case you were prepared to fire back with “its only Paul George”, Russ assisted on 17 buckets last night without Paul George on the court. That puts MY POINT GUARD at the No. 2 and No. 3 spot for most trip-dubs in a season in his prime.