Skip to main content

Paul George Pulled From Fourth Quarter For Hamstring Tightness

George was unable to finish the LA Clippers' game against the OKC Thunder.

Paul George was unable to complete Sunday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to hamstring tightness.

"I benched him... nah I'm just messing with you,” Head Coach Tyronn Lue joked after the game. “He had some tightness going into the game. In that last 4 minutes he felt tight again. We were just being cautious."

The Clippers closed the game with a lineup of Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Kawhi Leonard, Nicolas Batum and Ivica Zubac, and narrowly escaped with a 108-100 victory after allowing the Thunder to go on an 11-0 run with less than three minutes to go in the game. The Clippers’ broadcast team was confused as to why George, the team’s second star and defensive stopper, was not on the court with the game suddenly in jeopardy.

"We went up 17 at that point, checked out just to limit anything else happening to it," George said postgame. "They ended up making it very interesting at the end."

It appears as though the Clippers thought the game was over, and figured they'd err on the side of caution with their superstar.  

Though Lue was joking about benching George, he did have one of his worst offensive performances of the season before sitting. George, who is shooting an ungodly 50% from three for the season, shot just 4-13 from the field and 2-8 from beyond the arc. Perhaps his hamstring tightness was affecting his performance.

It is unclear if George will be available for Tuesday’s matchup against the Atlanta Hawks.

"I should be good," George affirmed.