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Clippers excel without CP3, steal Game 1 from disappointing Rockets
Few people, if anyone, gave the Los Angeles Clippers much of a chance to beat the Houston Rockets in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals without superstar Chris Paul, ruled out due to the hamstring injury he suffered in their tremendous Game 7 win against the San Antonio Spurs.
Whoops.
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Playing without one of the league's best players and their on-court leader, the Clippers nevertheless controlled the game and took advantage of a very poor performance by the Rockets to win Game 1 117-101 at the Toyota Center on Monday night. The shorthanded Clippers stuck with the Rockets through a very ugly first half and took command in the second half with a combination of big-time shot-making and intelligent defense to turn MVP runner-up James Harden into more of a passer than scorer. Houston looked lackadaisical at both ends and will need to play much better in Wednesday's Game 2 no matter who takes the floor for Los Angeles.
It became clear early on that this game would not remind anyone of the fantastic, consistently fascinating, and well played first-round series between the Clippers and Spurs. The teams combined for 27 turnovers in the first half in a near-even split of 14 for the Rockets and 13 for the Clippers. The latter's struggles were understandable given the absence of Paul, the NBA's best half-court operator and possessor of a 31:2 assist-to-turnover ratio over the final three games of the first round. One of the best pick-and-roll teams in basketball had trouble creating good shots out of the set as the Rockets seemed perfectly content to turn fill-in starter Austin Rivers and instant-offense reserve Jamal Crawford into taking low-percentage shots. As such, the Clippers shot just 2-of-15 from behind the arc (including no makes for J.J. Redick) and subsisted largely on the ability of Blake Griffin (16 points on 6-of-11 FG). Crawford hit some tough shots to pick up 11 points (on 11 attempts), but the Clippers generally looked like a team that has come to depend on the best pure point guard of his generation for shot creation and offensive leadership.
The Rockets' issues looked solvable, at least at first. In keeping with three of their four matchups this regular season (this 34-point outburst was the outlier), the Clippers forced Harden into being a passer out of the pick-and-roll to limit his shot attempts and free-throw opportunities. Harden went for eight points in the first half on just 3-of-7 from the field and 1-of-1 from the line, atypical numbers for a player who lived at the line this year. The shame for Houston was that they shot 5-of-11 from behind the three-point line and got terrific play from Dwight Howard, who missed every regular season game with the Clippers this season. It was not a pretty half for either team — we even saw a back-to-back Hack-A-Shaq moment involving DeAndre Jordan and Josh Smith — but the glut of turnovers and Harden's secondary role indicated that Houston could build on their 50-46 halftime lead and grab the expected victory.
Naturally, everything got much worse for the Rockets in the second half, right down to the dead-ball entertainment. They technically cut down on the countable miscues but still committed 10 more turnovers, making 24 for the game leading to 34 Clippers points. The Houston offense looked even more disjointed as Harden attempted only six more field goals and five more free throws (three of which came on one play) for 12 more points, enough for a superficially impressive line of 20 points and 12 assists that didn't carry anything like his usual impact. The ball often ended up in the hands of iffy shooters for poor shots, and many of the role players who were so key to the Rockets' first-round decimation of the Dallas Mavericks were nowhere to be found. It's possible that this game just saw several worst-case scenarios intersect at once, but it's also difficult to see how both Josh Smith and Corey Brewer each could have been allowed to take only one fewer attempt than Harden. The Rockets need to approach Game 2 with an overhauled game plan, because this one didn't work at all.
It's arguable that their defense was worse. Although Dwight Howard excelled as a rim protector as part of a terrific game (22 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks in 39 minutes), the Rockets were caught out of position and looked slow to shooters and loose balls throughout the night. The result was that the Clippers shot 11-of-16 on threes in the second half to help turn the Toyota Center deathly quiet. Doc Rivers even took the time to heckle a few fans who had jawed at him earlier:
An offense that looked unsettled in the first half suddenly could do little wrong. Griffin took on more of a facilitating role and finished with his third triple-double of the postseason with 26 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists, further establishing himself as much more than a highlight-reel talent. Redick scored all 17 of his points after the break, and Matt Barnes put up 20 with 8-of-11 shooting. In all, the Clippers went for 71 points in the second half and turned a close game into a rout with this 12-0 run in the middle of the fourth quarter:
It was very impressive, especially considering the short turnaround from a brutal Game 7 in which the Clippers appeared to have exhausted every last ounce of energy. If the Clippers proved their mettle and resilience against the Spurs, then Game 1 vs. the Rockets was just further confirmation. They played with an energy that Houston could not match despite a four-day difference in rest.
The Rockets will need to undergo a lot of self-examination in the next few days, because they played nothing like a title contender. Game 1 offered very little to build on other than the play of Howard, who at least showed that he can win the battle with Jordan at both ends. But that will mean little if head coach Kevin McHale and his staff can't find a way to turn Harden back into the model of offensive precision he was all regular season and role players don't step up to make shots. The Rockets appeared to have everything on their side to win this game and showed up unprepared. Hopefully they will approach Game 2 as a must-win instead of a sure win.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
