SUMMARY
- Paul George credits Ivica Zubac for the Clippers' Game 1 victory over the Mavericks.
- Zubac scored 20 points and 15 rebounds to help lead his team to victory.
Paul George had high praise for Ivica Zubac after his most recent performance against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks. As the majority of NBA fans should know, the Los Angeles Clippers have matched up against the Mavs in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Since the Mavs gained a lot of momentum going to the postseason, along with the fact that Kawhi Leonard missed this game due to knee swelling, the Mavericks were favored to emerge victorious on the road. However, that did not come to be as the Clippers prevailed in Game 1. In the postgame interview, Geroge was interviewed and asked about his thoughts on Zubac’s play in Game 1.
Ivica Zubac was the third-highest scorer for the Los Angeles Clippers tonight
Given that the Clippers have several talented scorers on their roster, it was quite surprising for fans to find out that Zubac was the third-highest scorer for the team in this game. As the Clippers won with a final score of 109-97, Ivica put up a solid double-double performance with 20 points and 15 rebounds. Here is what PG had to say about Zubac’s impact on this game.
“Yeah, very proud of Zu, Zu can go dominate every night. I thought he understood his presence. He was awesome you know, he was awesome…A straight bucket when we threw it to him and he was controlling the paint. We’re going to be very good anytime Zu is playing at that level…You know I just thought he dominated tonight.”
While it is common for teammates to heap praise on each other, even Luka Doncic credited Zubac as the X factor in this game due to his rebounding, scoring, and physicality. All of this goes to show that Ivica Zubac has worked on his game and trusted the process for several years.
Ivica Zubac has resurrected his career after coming off the bench in 2021
Zubac has spent the majority of his career with the Clippers after being traded to the team from the Los Angeles Lakers. Since the Clippers had other veteran centers such as DeMarcus Cousins and Serge Ibaka on their 2020-2021 roster, Zubac was made to come off the bench and display his impact with lesser playing time.