Thunder Notebook: Monday, April 16

Weston Shepherd -

Injury Update

Paul George: Paul George suffered a hip contusion in Sunday’s Game 1 victory — an injury that doesn’t appear to be extremely problematic yet. He participated in today’s practice according to Billy Donovan, although it should be noted that it was a non-contact session. Regardless, Playoff P himself said after the game that “I’m all good. I ain’t never sit out playoff games.”

Steven Adams: Steven Adams was seen favoring his hand after an alley-oop jam in the second half of Sunday’s Game 1. He remained in the game and Billy Donovan said today that he’s just fine.

Corey Brewer: Corey Brewer played in Game 1 despite being questionable all weekend with a sprained knee. He said today that he was about 80 percent in the 116-108 victory and suffered no setbacks.

Donovan Mitchell: Donovan Mitchell briefly exited Sunday’s game after stubbing his toe on Alex Abrines. It was revealed today that the rookie phenom is dealing with a foot contusion, leaving his availability for Wednesday’s Game 2 in doubt. His status will be updated on Tuesday. The Jazz are in trouble if he can’t go.

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Playoff P

The legend of “Playoff P” exploded in the wake of Paul George’s 36-point effort in Game 1. George went 8-of-11 from downtown, breaking the OKC record for three-pointers made in a playoff game. If you’re into sharing history with the Seattle SuperSonics, his 8 makes from downtown ties Gary Payton’s record for most in franchise history.

Outside of the obvious on-court impact, the emergence of Playoff P is bleeding out into the community:

It’s also bred some entertaining social media:

At this point, it’s obvious: Playoff P is far superior to Normal P. If the hip ends up being a non-issue, he has his work cut out for him when it comes to an encore.

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Joe Ingles vs Playoff P

Playoff P (how long until this gets old?) made life extremely difficult for Jazz forward Joe Ingles on Sunday. How difficult?

George apparently created a rivalry between the two men, giving Ingles an earful after a first quarter three-pointer. You can check out the video below, in which PG13 has some unsavory things to say:

George was asked about his defense on Ingles after the game, saying, “It’s very, very unlikely he’ll beat me off the dribble. I’ll take my chances in the foot speed.” Then, in today’s media session, Ingles spoke on the interaction, saying, “I don’t know him at all. It’s great. I love it. Do it again. It’s all good. No history with him. I don’t know him. We’ve never spoken in my life.”

I don’t know why this is so entertaining to me but I love the idea of an angry Paul George deciding that Joe Ingles should be the object of his rage. It clearly worked in Game 1, as George was throwing fire while Ingles struggled. I look forward to this random rivalry continuing.

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Game 1 Cinematic Story

Great video recap of Game 1 courtesy of the Thunder: