Paul George Returned To The Clippers Just In Time To Continue To Ruin The Life Of The Utah Jazz
Kevork Djansezian. Getty Images.The last time we saw Paul George on an NBA court was December 22nd, 2021. He unfortunately tore his UCL tendon in his elbow and would go on to miss the next 98 days as the Clippers tried to navigate life through the West without their two franchise players. That came to and end last night with George making his 2022 debut at home against the Utah Jazz where he quickly reminded the entire basketball world that oh yeah, Paul George is really fucking good at basketball
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In his 31 minutes last night PG13 finished with 34/2/6/4/2 on 10-20 (6-9) shooting and a starter best +15. Hard to have a better debut than that in my opinion and he looked as if he never missed a beat. That's pretty damn huge for the Clippers moving forward because how many teams in the NBA can say they are adding a fully healthy and fully capable All NBA caliber player to their lineup heading into the playoffs? Depending on who you believe, there could be more on the way for the Clippers too. They haven't ruled out Kawhi yet, I'm just saying. Even if it ends up being just George that comes back, that makes a huge difference in the Clippers postseason chances considering they are going to be playing either the Suns or Grizzlies. That becomes somewhat less daunting if you have George on the court.
But let's not overlook what took place last night. The last time the Jazz played the Clippers in their building, we know what happened. It was Game 6 of the 2021 playoffs and the Jazz blew a 25 point lead to lose that game 131-119 which ended their season. They gave up 82 second half points in that game if you can remember. It was another brutal collapse in another underachieving postseason run. So what did they do in their first game back in that building playing against George? They blew a 25 point lead and lost the game 121-115. It happened…..again. In the exact same fashion.
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We already knew things were a little rocky for the Jazz right now. They've lost 5 straight and have slid all the way to 5th in the West but are in a virtual tie with the Nuggets for that 5/6 spot. They are only 2 games out of the play in, which at this point is certainly on the table. They've been dealing with rumblings about the future of their roster all season, which is why the postseason is so important for this group. That's why it's not exactly the best sign to have any sort of unraveling before the playoffs even start. Do you think Gobert's quote was an accident? Do you think the "I can't speak for everybody" wasn't intentional? The same guy who has already thrown teammates under the bus publicly just this season? Come on, this is the overly dramatic NBA we're talking about here.
That's what made this game last night so big. Not only for what it means for the Clippers now that George is back and looks as good as ever but the ramifications that could be taking place in the Jazz locker room. You want to be entering the playoffs with momentum, feeling good about yourself. Looking ahead at their schedule they have LAL/GS/MEM/OKC/PHX/POR the rest of the way, and the good news I suppose is MEM/PHX will most likely be resting since they have nothing to play for. But time is certainly running out. As of now we have a UTA/DAL first round matchup which is a battle between two teams that everyone agrees can't lose early in the playoffs. I think that's the matchup I want to see most just for the stakes.