At this point, we should've seen this coming. Seriously. How many times during this postseason have the LA Clippers played their best basketball when you believed in them the least?
Only they know why it takes adversity -- Kawhi Leonard's injury or the threat of elimination or humiliation -- to bring out the best version of a team that has been cast as a championship contender for the past two seasons.
Heck, maybe they don't even know themselves.
But for the third consecutive series, against the longest odds they've faced thus far, the Clippers summoned an incredible performance Monday night to beat the Phoenix Suns 116-102 on the road and deny the Suns fans among the crowd of 16,664 who've been waiting 28 years to celebrate a return to the NBA Finals.
The Suns lead the series 3-2.
"It's been all season long," said Clippers coach Tyronn Lue, now 10-2 when coaching teams facing elimination. "We've been down guys, guys have been out. Different guys are stepping up, stepping in and playing well. We've been doing it all year long. I know I keep saying the same word, 'resilient,' but this group is."
Paul George went from passive and careless with the ball in the first half to unstoppable in the second half, scoring 30 of his game-high 41 points as the Clippers held on to their first halftime lead of the series to force a Game 6 on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.
"We thrive in this moment. We come together even more so in these moments," George said. "This team is just made up of toughness, all across the roster. We're going to give it everything we got, and we'll live with the results."
It was a remarkable 48-hour turnaround for George and the Clippers, who looked exhausted in a low-scoring loss on their home floor Sunday evening. They'd put up a good fight since losing Leonard to a knee injury midway through the second round, but it looked to be catching up to them.
George lifted weights and got treatment for nearly two hours after playing 42 minutes in Game 4, trying to squeeze just a little more out of a body that has played more minutes (735 in 18 games) than any other player in these playoffs (Phoenix's Devin Booker is second, 605 minutes).
But let's be honest, things looked bleak for the Clippers after Game 4. Another starter, center Ivica Zubac, was lost with a knee injury. Leonard would not be pulling a Willis Reed any time soon. George even went so far as to say he didn't want him to: "As a brother, as a teammate, his health long term is more important than what's going on now," George said.
But then he added something we all should've paid closer attention to.
"As a veteran, you just learn not to let games weigh on you," George said. "I've had great practice of doing that. Still live a wonderful life. Still have an amazing family. On top of the world regardless of the outcome. Just move on and get ready for the next game."
Those words seem prescient after George's 41-point, 13-rebound, 15-for-20 shooting, 6-assist, 3-steal performance in Game 5.
The man has some perspective -- and experience -- weathering storms.
Over the years, for a host of fair and unfair reasons, George has become one of the more maligned players in the league. He is supremely talented but also supremely honest in interviews. Too honest, in other words. And sometimes those words don't age well. Playoff P, for example.
But the other side of being maligned, or ratioed in social media, is you learn how to deal with it better. To keep the internet out and your focus on what matters.
"It comes with the job, I guess," George said after Monday's contest. "But it is what it is. I still try to go and dominate, whether I'm shooting the ball well or not shooting the ball well. I still try to dominate, just the whole game, in general."
George put those lessons into practice even in the middle of the game. In the first half, he struggled with his aggressiveness, like when he settled for a 3-pointer after Suns center Deandre Ayton switched on to him. But rather than spiraling, George stormed back with 20 points in the third quarter, helping the Clippers nearly double their lead.
There was another lapse, when George committed his eighth turnover with 7:01 to go and the Clippers trying to hold off a Suns rally. George thought he was fouled as he drove the lane but spent too much time arguing the call instead of hustling back on defense to stop Cameron Johnson's fast-break layup, which cut the lead to 98-93. George was still frustrated with the officials while Johnson was hitting the ensuing free throw, which cut the deficit to 98-94, and George was whistled for shoving Suns swingman Torrey Craig to the floor on the rebound attempt.
It could've been a huge momentum swing. But George settled himself and his team down, and his best friend on the Clippers, Reggie Jackson, hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to extend LA's lead back to seven points. On the next Suns possession, George came out of a pile of players with a tough rebound, dribbled coast to coast and finished with a layup to put the Clippers back up by nine with 5:56 to go. The Suns never seriously challenged again.
"I don't know where this trolling bulls--- has come from where the internet controls the narratives about these players," Clippers center DeMarcus Cousins said, when asked about George. "It's becoming foolish, man. Like I said earlier in the year, [George is] one of the most special players to ever lace his shoes up. Give this dude his flowers, man. I don't understand the slander. It's becoming quite silly now. Respect these players, man. Respect these greats."
With Zubac (knee) and Serge Ibaka (back surgery) in street clothes, Cousins came off the bench to score 15 points in less than 12 minutes. It was a huge lift for a team that was essentially forced to play a zone defense and put 6-foot-8 Marcus Morris Sr. on the 6-foot-11 Ayton, Phoenix's blossoming young center.
"My mindset don't change," Cousins said. "When I step on the floor, I feel like I'm the best one on the floor regardless of who is in front of me. And I know for a fact can't nobody guard me one-on-one. So my mindset doesn't change. I just wait for my opportunity."
For Phoenix, it was a deflating loss in front of a raucous home crowd that was waiting to erupt. But the Clippers' fast start (20-5) kept the Suns and their fans wanting, all night. Phoenix led for just 20 seconds in the third quarter Monday night but never really got close enough in the fourth quarter to start thinking about a Finals appearance.
"It's on all of us," Phoenix guard Devin Booker said. "They came out, they punched us in the face to start the game.
"They're not going to go away easily, so we have to be locked in from beginning to end."