De’Anthony Melton Praised for Defense on Clippers' Paul George

76ers guard De'Anthony Melton received a ton of credit for his defense against Clippers star Paul George on Friday.

The Los Angeles Clippers’ star duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George was sure to issue the Philadelphia 76ers a stiff challenge on Friday night. 

Through the first half of action, the two helped lead the Clippers on a significant run to garner a lead as high as 20 points early on.

Leonard finished the first half with 13 points. He shot efficiently from the field, knocking down all but two of his eight shots through 15 minutes. On the other hand, George led the Clippers with 17 points, knocking down six of his 12 shots, draining three attempts from beyond the arc.

As a result of the Leonard-George combo, the Clippers led the Sixers 63-51 through the first half. During the intermission, the Sixers acknowledged they had to lock down defensively in order to find success in the second half. 

Philadelphia guard De’Anthony Melton led the charge on George while the Sixers attempted to trap Leonard as much as possible in the second half. 

“He was great,” said Sixers center Joel Embiid regarding Melton. “That’s what he’s been doing all season. That’s what we need from him to take on those types of matchups, and on the offensive end, whether it’s to rebound or knock down wide-open shots, that’s what he’s been doing. Everybody needs to keep doing their job.”

Leonard continued his hot shooting down the stretch, hitting on six of his 11 shots from the field for 15 points in 18 minutes in the second half. 

However, George struggled, which led to Doc Rivers issuing Melton all of the credit for keeping the star guard in check.

“That was all De’Anthony,” the head coach said. “We trapped Kawhi down the stretch and Paul down the stretch, but other than that, it was more De’Anthony Melton.”

“The second half, we really locked down defensively, and we wanted to emphasize that's where we need it,” Melton explained. “Then we know they're putting up 30 points in the first two quarters, we just wanna come out there and make them a little bit more uncomfortable. And when we get into transition, and we got players like we got, you know, it's fun to watch, and it's fun to just be out there.”

After George’s hot first-half performance, Melton helped hold the star guard to just five points in 19 minutes. George attempted six shots from the field, knocking down just one of his attempts. It was an impressive effort from the Sixers guard but not necessarily a surprising one at this point.

“De’Anthony always plays great defense,” said Sixers forward Tobias Harris. “He’s active, his hands are in the passing lanes, he leads our teams in deflections and everything, so he’s been great, especially when he’s guarding some of the top players on the other team, so he did amazing.”

The Leonard-George combo scored 50 points total. It wasn’t enough for the Clippers to come out on top. Instead, the Sixers formed a comeback victory to send Los Angeles home with a 119-114 loss.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.