OKC Thunder host Paul George and the LA Clippers -preview
The OKC Thunder host the LA Clippers in the first appearance of Paul George back at the Peake since being traded. Gameday previews the match.
The OKC Thunder are in the midst of a five-game homestand. They have won their first three games but now host in my opinion the best team out of Los Angeles this season. The LA Clippers have talent to burn and are going to be the hardest team to beat in this series of games.
The first question of the night is how Paul George is going to be welcomed back to Chesapeake Arena. He is the reason the Thunder team changed so much in the offseason after demanding to be traded.
I do have a couple of things to mention on this point. Despite making the request to go to the Clippers, George did not leak this information. This meant that general manager Sam Presti was able to get the best deal possible.
34 PTS / 6 3PM / 9 REB / 2 STL / 2 BLK@YG_Trece becomes the first player in franchise history with 30+ points, 6+ threes and 2+ blocks in a game. pic.twitter.com/BAQbvxCyOx
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) December 20, 2019
The other thing that we must remember as fans is that George is a person with a career goal in mind. We all have them and he could see that the OKC Thunder was not going to get him to where he wanted to go. If you can see a better opportunity professionally, would you not change organizations?
However, back to the game. The Thunder had an incredible opportunity in the game against the Phoenix Suns to rest their starters for almost all the last quarter. After a massive road trip and two hard fought emotional come back’s this was an opportunity too good to miss for in game rest.