Paul George knew that he had made "a statement" when he threw down an emphatic windmill in the Oklahoma City Thunder's thrilling win over the Utah Jazz.
In a contest that saw Russell Westbrook's streak of 11 straight triple-doubles come to an end, George enjoyed the spotlight as he finished with 45 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a 148-147 triumph.
The small forward's impressive outing was capped when he drained the winning shot on a teardrop with 0.8 seconds left in double overtime, but it was his windmill effort in the first OT that George was most proud of.
"That was a statement," he said. "That was a statement just to let them know my legs were fresh.
"It's going to be a long OT for that opposing team."
Come on guys. Can we talk about this move with 00.8 left on the clock? @Yg_Trece is just doing whatever he wants out there. pic.twitter.com/tat1nmrJvA
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) February 23, 2019
Speaking about his decisive basket, he added: "Had to get it up there. It's a shot that I work on. Just thank God it went in."
Eight-time All-Star Westbrook combined with George to score 88 points and was full of praise for his team-mate.
"I can just remember last year they were putting up Paul's stats, where he was 1-for-12, 1-for-10 in clutch shots and all y'all were probably the same people doing the same thing, and now he's making shots," he said.
"To me, I love it. And I know Paul loves it as well, giving him confidence to make shots when we need to."