Paul George sounds confident despite the Clippers’ Game 2 loss to Mavericks

Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George isn’t hitting the panic button even though his team is in a two-game hole to the Dallas Mavericks.

The Clippers were supposed to make a run at the NBA title in 2021. That dream has turned into a nightmare after two games with the Dallas Mavericks.

Los Angeles lost on their home floor again on Tuesday night, 127-121, to Dallas.

How high is the Clippers’ level of concern now that they’re down 2-0? Paul George isn’t ringing alarm bells.

“It’s a competition. We got to rise to the occasion. The fact of the matter is if we don’t, we’re done for,” George said, per AllClippers.com. “But it’s no level of concern.”

George stressed the importance of the Clippers getting back in the groove in all phases of the game.

“We just got to play our game. We got to play through this. We got to incorporate our defense,” he said. “Luka’s going to get his touches. We just got to do a better job defensively of just quieting everybody else.”

Paul George and the Clippers need to get serious about defense

Luka Doncic finished Game 2 with 39 points. That would be less of a problem if two other Mavericks didn’t pitch in 20+ points. Kristaps Porzingis came away with 20 while Tim Hardaway Jr. dropped 28.

It’s one thing for the Clippers to let Porzingis tally those points. He averaged 20.1 points per game during the regular season. However, Hardaway Jr. is a 16.6-per-game player. He’s had 20+ points in both games.

As a whole, the Mavericks shot 58.5 percent from the field and 52.9  percent from beyond the arc. No one else in the playoffs so far has allowed their opponents to shoot better than 48 percent from three-point range. It’s not cutting it.

George had 28 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and a steal in the losing effort on Tuesday. However, he went 1-of-7 from distance. His co-star Kawhi Leonard had 41 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals.