OKLAHOMA CITY — Paul George stood near midcourt, an arm draped around Russell Westbrook’s back, and engaged his injured teammate in conversation.

Westbrook — sidelined for a second-straight game and sporting a resplendent multicolored sweater — was animated as ever, shaking his head as he spoke with his standard manic energy.

Beside him, George gave a relaxed nod.

The Thunder were in the process of rolling the Rockets on Thursday, and George had been similarly comfortable all night. The cool comfort of his conversation with Westbrook seemed indicative of his evening — and in many ways, his season.

Year Two of the Paul George experiment in Oklahoma City hasn’t come without its bumps. But it’s a far smoother ride than a season ago. That was particularly apparent as George took the wheel in the Thunder’s 98-80 win against Houston on Thursday.

George made just 7-of-21 shots, and five of those makes came in a spectacular second quarter.

But as a defender and a playmaker, George had total control against Houston. He stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and six steals. He played 35 minutes — on the second night of a back-to-back — and committed one foul against the team that on average draws the eighth-most fouls in the NBA.

“He controlled the game — offensively, defensively,” teammate Raymond Felton said. “He just pretty much did what he wanted to do.”

George has had more spectacular games in OKC. He topped 40 points three times last season. He put 38 on the Warriors in Oakland, a 20-point win.

But rarely has George seemed more in command than he did against Houston on Thursday. He disrupted the Rockets’ struggling offense. He created clean looks for teammates. On a night when Westbrook sat, George stood out for his impact at both ends.

It was, in many ways, the consummate Paul George performance.

Despite a scoring outburst in the second quarter — when he had 14 points on 5-for-5 shooting — George looked most comfortable offensively when he was whipping the ball to shooters or finding Steven Adams around the rim.

“Honestly, that’s when I feel like I’m better in the flow and shots start to fall for me, when I can facilitate and then play my way into a game,” George said afterward. “That’s the best way I know how to play.”

It’s what can make George great. It’s the same thing that can make him maddening.

His willingness to wait out the best shot can be lauded as patient or lambasted as wasteful of his considerable offensive skill. He sometimes goes long stretches without shooting, the product of his preference to get what comes to him in the flow of the offense rather than have plays drawn up for him to score.

But that’s part of what makes George a good fit alongside Westbrook. George’s willingness to play without the ball for long stretches, to focus first on his defense and build from there, make him a comfortable complement to Westbrook’s kinetic style.

And when George’s game works the way it did on Thursday, it can be dazzling, with or without Westbrook and whether or not shots drop.

George can hound James Harden and still recover to help on a big at the basket. With the ball in his hands, he can find a cutter or sink a setback jumper, and he’s comfortable either way.

Comfort is the key word.

This season hasn’t been all smooth sailing for George, who’s battling peroneal nerve palsy (“dead foot,” he calls it) in his left foot. He admits he’s trying to “muscle through” the issue, and it’s been a challenge. George is shooting 38.8 percent from the floor — lower than he’s ever shot for a full season — and 32.6 percent from 3-point range.

But neither has the water been churning in quite the way it did a season ago.

George is settled in, for one thing, but his relaxed approach is about more than having a long-term contract with the Thunder. He’s familiar with personnel and with coach Billy Donovan. He understands the OKC system and the part he plays in it.

Defensively, George can spot a play and call out a coverage to “try to manipulate matchups that we can really take advantage of,” he said. Offensively, he has earned Donovan’s trust to freelance either as a scorer or a playmaker, and knows his teammates’ preferences enough to excel in the latter role. He’s averaging 4.3 assists per game, one more than he did a season ago, and Thursday was his fifth game with five or more.

It’s a stark contrast to last season, when George often looked out of place in the Thunder offense, and rarely more so than in a 25-point loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles last February.

In a situation not unlike Thursday’s — Westbrook sitting on the second night of a back-to-back — George scored 29 points that night in L.A. But he had twice as many turnovers (six) as assists and looked out of sorts with Adams.

The win against the Rockets was a reminder of how far he’s come. And, with or without Westbrook, how good he can be.

“Even if he don’t make his shots — today he made them, but even if he don’t make his shots, he’s still locked in on the defensive end, trying to get stops, showing his hands,” teammate Dennis Schröder said. “He’s a hell of a player, both ends of the floor, and that’s what we need from him.”

(Photo: J Pat Carter / Getty Images)