INGLEWOOD — Homecomings usually are full of warm welcomes, fond appreciation and admiration. Not, however, if your initials are PG.
There was little love from the fans on Wednesday night at Intuit Dome as Paul George returned to town for the first time to face the Clippers, the team he spent five seasons with before moving east as a free agent this summer.
George hit his share of memorable game-winning shots and helped lead the Clippers to their first Western Conference finals in 2021, but the only thing many of the fans wanted to focus on Wednesday was how the nine-time All-Star shunned an extension offer from the Clippers and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in the offseason.
They showed their feelings quickly, booing as soon as George got the ball off the opening tip. He brought the ball up the court a few minutes later and was booed a bit more heartily. In fact, every time he touched the ball, the sparse crowd at Intuit Dome booed.
Even after a tribute video, highlighting many of his on- and off-court contributions to the team and community, was played on the giant halo video board, some fans cheered; most booed. Still others held signs suggesting the Palmdale native play more and talk less, a shot at his “Podcast P” program.
“It was great,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “They booed him, tried to get him out of his game even though he didn’t miss too many shots, but now they can cheer for him tomorrow.”
Through it all, though, George played on. In his second game this season (he missed the first five with an injury), he had 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds in a 110-98 loss to a team that bears little resemblance to the roster from his time here. The Clippers added nine new players in the offseason.
“It’s stupid,” George said of the booing. “I was a free agent. It wasn’t something that I demanded a trade or went against the team here. I did what was best for me in that situation.”
Yet, it was two faces familiar to George who led the Clippers. Norman Powell had a game-high 26 points, his seventh straight game with 20-plus points, while James Harden added 18 points, four rebounds and six assists.
Derrick Jones Jr., who took over George’s starting role, finished with 14 points and four rebounds as the Clippers improved to 4-4.
George had spurned the Clippers’ extension offer and after negotiations stalled, he opted out of the final year on his contract and signed a four-year, $212 million max-level deal with the 76ers. George said he anticipated a rough start to the game.
“My emotions were high,” George said. “It was obviously a lot of love, a lot of family within this organization, so it was emotional. Anytime I tried to lock in and get prepared, I look over and see someone that I knew instantly. It took me out of that mindset of getting prepared and then I try to lock back in and there as another person.
“So those moments, it makes it difficult kind of just to get preparation down, but outside of that I try to just play.”
The Clippers didn’t get swept up in the emotion of seeing their former teammate. They were all business in winning their second straight game, doing so in unpredictable fashion by building a double-digit lead in the second half and maintaining it while shooting 57% for the night.
Blowing late-game leads had become a troubling trend for the Clippers this season, which pushed their first five games down to the wire. Not this time.
Leading by 16 points after a strong third quarter, the Clippers didn’t fold. They extended their lead to 22 (103-81) with six minutes remaining. The rest was easy as the Sixers didn’t mount much of a challenge despite having three other players in double figures and shooting 54.8%.
Kelly Oubre finished with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting for the 76ers, while Caleb Martin had 14 points and Tyrese Maxey added 12.
“I think every game we’ve been in the game scrapping and competing. Some games we’ve been up big, wasn’t able to sustain it, but just overall, we’re just getting better each game,” Lue said.
“Understanding how to close games, how we want to close games and when we get those leads, we got to be good with the basketball. We can’t turn the basketball over, can’t take bad shots. And I think the last couple of games we’ve gotten better with that.”
Harden agreed with his coach. He sees improvement in each game, starting with Monday’s victory over the San Antonio Spurs when they erased a 26-point first-quarter deficit.
“Well, the last game, we got down what seemed like 50 points but then from the second half of the last game to this game, I think we just played well,” Harden said.
He said the Clippers fell into bad habits against the Sixers early on, wasting several possessions, like when he lost the ball and George picked it up and then the Clippers fouled him. They fouled Martin on two or three possessions, leading to more free throws.
Lue chewed his team out at halftime.
“Coach came in and got on us,” Powell said, “that there were a few plays that where we weren’t playing hard enough.”
The Clippers responded by cutting down its mistakes, not turning over the ball and making the right play, enabling them to build a substantial lead in the second half.
“That’s where we can correct ourselves,” Harden said of the mistakes “… we can do a better job of controlling that and that’s what’s allowing us to break these games open.”
There wasn’t any public interaction before the game between injured Clippers star Kawhi Leonard and George, who joined the team together in the summer of 2019 and were the co-leaders of the 213 Era for five seasons, but George insisted the two remain close.
“That’s still my guy, I still talk to him. He’s still one of the closest people I am with to this day in this league. We still talk. We still hang out. Nothing’s changed,” George said earlier Wednesday. “Our families are close. Nothing’s changed outside of that.”