Getty Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder reacts after making a three-point basket against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on December 19, 2018 in Sacramento, California.
Oklahoma City Thunder star forward Paul George will be a game-time decision for Game 1 of their first round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, this afternoon at the Moda Center.
Billy Donovan says Paul George will be a game-time decision. “He’ll go out for his normal workout then we’ll have more detail once he gets out from there.”
FiveThirtyEight’s CARMELO spread for this game is a pick’em and there’s a good reason for that, these two teams are evenly matched and if George is out the Trail Blazers can flip the script on a Thunder team that swept the regular season series against them 4-0 SU and ATS. Portland did have Jusuf Nurkic (15.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.4 blocks, 1.4 steals) in those games before a broken leg ended his season, so OKC clearly knows what it takes to beat them.
Thunder Roster & Starting Lineup vs. Trail Blazers
*Notates expected starter
C: Steven Adams*, Nerlens Noel
PF: Jerami Grant*, Markieff Morris
SF: Terrance Ferguson*, Addel Nader
SG: Dennis Schroder*, Deonte Burton, Hamidou Diallo
PG: Russell Westbrook*, Raymond Felton
If PG13 is out, Dennis Schroder would likely replace him in the starting lineup and he’ll have to be the team’s secondary scorer behind Russell Westbrook, who would have to increase his production as well. The Thunder also have to get Steven Adams more involved on offense to exploit Nurkic’s absence.
Adams averaged 10.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 36.0 minutes over four games against the Trail Blazers this season.
Paul George just had the best season of his career, averaging 28.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals in 36.9 minutes over 77 games and last Friday he stated that he expects to play:
“It’s playoff time, so it’s more than this, it’s about being out there with my guys,” George said. “As much as I can get it a hundred as possible, or close to it, you can expect me out there Sunday.”
👀 when @russwest44 & @Yg_Trece BOTH recorded triple-doubles in the same game! #NBABreakdown
🏀: (6) OKC vs. (3) POR, Game 1
⏰: 3:30pm/et 📺: #NBAonABC
George missed Wednesday’s 127-116 road win against the Bucks in the regular season finale after experiencing too much pain in his right shoulder to play through during a pre-game workout.
The MVP candidate may be at less than 100 percent if he plays but the Trail Blazers have to prevent him from going off in this series. George averaged 38.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.8 steals in 40.3 minutes over four games against the Trail Blazers this season and he’s the best player in this series for a reason.
PG13 hasn’t played since Tuesday’s 112-111 home victory against the Rockets when he hit a game-winning 3-pointer with 1.8 seconds left to play, helping the Thunder improve their playoff seeding and avoid facing the Warriors in the first round. George finished the game with 27 points, nine rebounds and four steals in 42 minutes.
If Paul George plays, trying to limit him will be a huge task for the Trail Blazers, he can score in a lot of different ways and making it difficult on him will be very important, they can’t let him be comfortable in this series.
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