Twitter reacts as Suns' Jae Crowder pokes Paul George in the eye

Zac Al-Khateeb

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Twitter reacts as Suns' Jae Crowder pokes Paul George in the eye image

Paul George was nearly unstoppable in the Clippers' must-win Game 5 against the Suns on Monday, but it wasn't for a lack of trying — especially by Jae Crowder.

The Phoenix forward poked George in his eye with 4:17 remaining in the game and his team down 108-96. Replays of the incident showed Crowder briefly grabbed at George's jersey before seemingly looking him in the eye as he followed through his defense and hit him in the face:

Crowder was assessed a Flagrant 1 for the hit — the Suns lost their challenge on the call — with George hitting both of his free throws to make the score 110-96. Fourteen seconds later, George hit another 20-foot pull-up jumper to give his team an insurmountable 112-96 lead in the eventual 116-102 victory.

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George had arguably his best playoff game to date in the victory, putting up 41 points on 15-of-20 shooting — and sinking all eight free throws — on top of 13 rebounds and six assists.

That didn't stop Twitter from taking their own shots at Crowder for what many characterized as a deliberately dirty play:

Zac Al-Khateeb

Zac Al-Khateeb Photo

Zac Al-Khateeb has been part of The Sporting News team since 2015 after earning his Bachelor's (2013) and Master's (2014) degrees in journalism at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining TSN, he covered high school sports and general news in Alabama. A college sports specialist, Zac has been a voter for the Biletnikoff Award and Heisman Trophy since 2020.