"You felt the monkey off of the Clippers back" - Paul George reacts to LA Clippers reaching the Western Conference Finals for the first time in NBA history
The LA Clippers pulled off their greatest postseason achievements on Friday night against the Utah Jazz in Game 6 of their second-round series.
Ty Lue's men made franchise history by becoming the first Clippers team to advance to the NBA Western Conference Finals. They beat the Jazz 131-119, despite trailing by 25-points at one stage.
After talisman Kawhi Leonard was ruled out indefinitely ahead of Game 5 because of a knee injury, not many expected the LA Clippers to make it past the Utah Jazz and reach the Conference Finals. However, every player on the Clippers roster performed to the best of their ability to help the team get through.
Paul George, the team's second star, stepped up big-time, activating his Playoff P mode. He scored 28 points in Game 6 and 37 points in Game 5, which helped the LA Clippers massively in the absence of Kawhi. It was a much-needed boost for PG13 individually, especially after the criticism he had received over the last few years.
Speaking about the Clippers finally being able to make it to the Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history, Goerge said:
"You felt the monkey off of the Clippers back, in terms of getting out of the second round."
The LA Clippers will now face the Phoenix Suns on Sunday in Game 1 of their Western Conference Finals. The Suns finished with a higher seeding and will have homecourt advantage to kick off the series.
"It's all in one city" - LA Clippers Head Coach Ty Lue calls for support from LA Lakers fans
Head coach Ty Lue once again proved why he is one of the best head coaches in NBA playoff history, leading the LA Clippers to yet another comeback series win. They were 2-0 down in the series against the Dallas Mavericks and the Utah Jazz as well.
He received tremendous appreciation from the NBA fraternity for his achievement with the Clippers and for leading them to their first-ever Conference Finals appearance.
Speaking after the game, Ty Lue, who is also a former LA Lakers player, said the Laker-faithful should be supporting the LA Clippers from here on as they aren't going to be facing each other.
"I know the Lakers are out, and there's a lot of Laker fans here. But once the Lakers are gone, if we're not playing the Lakers, you should be cheering for the Clippers becuase it's all in one city," said the LA Clippers coach.
The LA Clippers and the LA Lakers are the only teams to share the same homecourt in the form of Staples Center. LA has always been dominated by more of the Laker fans for a long time. It will be interesting to see how the fans react to this statement from Ty Lue moving forward.
Also read: Utah Jazz 119-131 LA Clippers: Terance Mann's heroics seal first Conference Finals berth for Clippers in franchise history; here's how Twitter reacted to Game 6 | 2021 NBA Playoffs