Paul George and Kawhi Leonard went out of their way to go one-on-one with the big three of the Brooklyn Nets.
But during the Nets ’124-120 victory over the LA Clippers in a game that lived up to previous expectations, the Clippers star duo couldn’t keep up with Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie. Irving, especially in the free throw line. The Brooklyn star trio combined to go 16 of 16 from the line.
Leonard hit eight back on the line, but George was on the line only once in 36 minutes.
“I mean, I think it was a disrespect to have a free kick attempt today,” said George, who scored 26 points and six assists. “I’m going to leave it that way.”
The Clippers went on the line just 17 times compared to the Nets ’26 trips.
George’s only free-kick attempt came when he drove and scored against his former teammate Landry Shamet under the basket with 6:58 left in the game. George almost had to start contact before undoing Shamet to get the foul. His three-point play gave the Clippers a 102-97 lead with 6:58 to play.
But in a game with five perennial All-Stars on the court, George felt he did not receive the respect of the refereeing team.
“The amount of plays I started or made contact with,” George argued. “And be sent to the line (once) …”
The Nets bounced back from their 149-146 loss to the Washington Wizards by beating a Clippers team that had won 10 of their previous 11 games. Irving led all scorers with 39 points, Durant had 28 points and nine rebounds and Harden scored a 23-point triple-double, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.
“Like I said the other night, I took it as a personal thing by not being able to score anyone,” Irving said of the loss to the Wizards, who scored 41 points for Russell Westbrook and 37 for Bradley Beal.
Leonard scored 33 points for the final with five rebounds, five assists and four steals
While George was unable to get to the line, he and the Clippers discovered in a span of two and a half minutes how explosive the Super Nets trio is.
During connecting a 7 feet. Irving scored eight points in a row. Harden then punched a 3-yard pass to complete a 13-0 bombing.
When asked what the Clippers learned from defending the Big Three of the Nets that can help them in the long run, Nic Batum responded immediately.
“One thing is for sure: we miss Pat Bev tonight,” Batum said of injured Patrick Beverley, who is out due to a knee injury. “I think we forget a lot about that guy. It would be huge for us tonight, so Pat Bev is back, please.”