The Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Dallas Mavericks in a blowout, falling to Dallas 124 to 73. LA was missing their superstar Kawhi Leonard after he was elbowed in the side of the head by teammate Serge Ibaka. Kawhi’s fellow star Paul George could not make up for Leonard’s absence, scoring only 15 points on 34.2% shooting.
Good lord have mercy. I’ve seen blowouts before but I don’t think I’ve ever witness a team being down by 50 — like the @LAClippers trailed the @dallasmavs. JESUS! Even without Kawhi, there’s no excuse. I mean……Damn!
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) December 27, 2020
After the Clippers’ second-round loss to the Denver Nuggets in the 2020 playoffs, George earned the nickname “Pandemic P”, a spin on “Playoff P” a nickname given to PG after his supposed shortcomings in the postseason. After his unfortunate performance tonight the “Pandemic P” hashtag has returned to Twitter.
Pandemic P slander time? pic.twitter.com/74uwZJiEbV
— Jets (@JetsGeaux) December 27, 2020
https://twitter.com/cedrickw2000/status/1343328235833188357
Pandemic P today pic.twitter.com/wbIxzmhqpw
— KBs GOAT (@KbsGoat) December 27, 2020
Luka with Pandemic P pic.twitter.com/J6YHRqJxFl
— 🔰Alex🔰 (@Red_Shank7) December 27, 2020
https://twitter.com/fan_lanth/status/1343310822773293057
The clippers are back #PandemicP pic.twitter.com/g6GGSr7HZf
— Dirty Diana (@DirtyDiii) December 27, 2020
Pandemic P : I want to retire as a clipper
Everyone else : pic.twitter.com/BYqtyPQU4S
— Laugh Entertainment (@Laughent21) December 27, 2020
George seemed to take the criticism he received over the offseason personally, playing great in his first two games into the 2020-2021 season leading the Clippers to a 2-0 start. That came to a crashing halt as the Mavericks looked to correct their own two-loss start. George took responsibility for the loss after the game.
"I take full responsibility," Paul George. "… I take full ownership of that."
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) December 27, 2020
It was clear that the Clippers missed Leonard’s presence out on the court, it will be interesting to see if they can adjust to his absence in their next matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves, December 29th.