Paul George’s clutch shooting makes you forget about his past struggles

They used to say George wasn’t clutch. They were very wrong.

Paul George nailed a floater with 0.8 seconds left in double overtime to lift Oklahoma City to a wild 148-147 win over Utah on Friday. There were talks in the past that George couldn’t perform in crunch time. Those talks have come to a screeching halt this season.

Paul George is calling game.

George scored 13 points in clutch time against the Jazz. It tied the most clutch points he’s scored this season. The floater against Utah was his third game winner of the season.

He had a game-winning three against Brooklyn.

And he also pulled off a game-winning four-point play on Jan. 19 in Philadelphia.

Remember where he came from?

George was 0-14 in game-tying or go-ahead shots in the last seconds of regulation or overtime. He was the punch line of his own commercial — one in which he hits a clutch shot for a Gatorade ad says, “Ball game,” only to be mocked by fans for his inability to do so.

Now, George has nailed three such shots in his second season in Oklahoma City. He’s also shooting 30-of-73 from the field in crunch time — defined as the final five minutes of a five-point game in the fourth quarter or overtime — and 4-of-12 in the final 10 seconds of a close game.

George has morphed into a closer in Oklahoma City by necessity. Westbrook has had a poor shooting season, but it’s been his co-star whose shouldered the brunt of the scoring load this season.

The Thunder have positioned themselves as legitimate championship contenders in the Western Conference thanks much to George’s play. And if he continues hitting big shots like the one he hit against Utah, no team in the West is going to want those problems.