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

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: