Welcome to the Morning Shootaround, where every weekday you’ll get a fresh, topical column from one of SI.com’s NBA writers: Howard Beck on Mondays, Chris Mannix on Tuesdays, Michael Pina on Wednesdays, Chris Herring on Thursdays and Rohan Nadkarni on Fridays.
PHOENIX – The ball squirted loose, Cam Johnson picked it up and in that moment, every critic of Paul George began warming up sizzling social media takes. A pair of turnovers and a sloppy foul from George had freed the Suns to whittle what was a 13-point fourth quarter lead down to four.