Taking a part for his heavily determined Los Angeles Clippers squad, Paul George has already circled three key matchups against rivals and known title heavyweights for the impending basketball season to test their capabilities as an assumed title giant.
The star swingman, citing “revenge” as a motive, has considered teams which “gonna bring the best ” out of their games. He first noted his team’s season opener against arch nemesis Los Angeles Lakers.
(h/t Wichita Eagles’ Joey Linn):
“The obvious is opening night, that matchup against the Lakers,” George said on a recent podcast. “For me it’s the fun matchups. I don’t feel that I personally have bad blood, or the Clippers team has bad blood with any teams, so it’s not eyeing the calendar because we want revenge… It’s more so we know which [games] are going to be the fun, interesting, gonna bring the best out of us games.”
Both the Clippers and the Lakers struggled to have an eminent 2021-2022 campaign due to injury adversities, but they will enter a new season full of hopes to contend for a championship.
Meanwhile, George selects reigning champion Golden State Warriors and the Giannis Antetokounmpo-led Milwaukee Bucks as the other two that the Clippers are anticipating to face soon.
“Anytime you get to go against the defending champs, the Warriors, is definitely up on the list. And I think the opportunity to go against — we don’t know yet, but one of the top teams out East — Milwaukee. I think those three teams are great measuring sticks for what we’re trying to do in the long run.”
With fully available one-two punch superstars of George and lead man Kawhi Leonard, bolstered by the acquisition of John Wall and maintaining of that deep lineup, the Clips are being pegged to be a title power on paper. As such, criticisms remain spiralling if they can remain healthy to reach their extreme potential.
The Clippers will first meet the Lakers, Warriors and Bucks on Oct. 21, Nov. 24, and Feb. 3, respectively this upcoming season.
