But you know what happened next. Houston made several adjustments to open the second half, and LAC was thrown off their game a bit. The Rockets outscored the Clippers 59-44 the rest of the way on their way to a 115-109 win to even up the series. With Chris Paul once again sidelined and a game already in the bag, however, the Clips couldn't have been too upset with the defeat. After all, they were coming home again for two games in front of the home crowd, with the possibility of a CP3 return looming.
Paul is apparently going to try and give it a go for Game 3, which will surely give the Clippers an emotional boost on top of the one they'll receive from being back in front of the Staples Center crowd. There's no telling how long Paul will be able to play, nor how effective he'll be when he's out there, but if he feels good enough to play, why stop him?
The main thing going against the Clippers as we head into the weekend is fatigue. Per NBA.com, the Clippers have three players in the top-5 in minutes played during this postseason (Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick are first and second, while DeAndre Jordan is 4th). Paul and Matt Barnes round out the top-10, despite CP3 having missed two games. Jamal Crawford also ranks in the top-30, despite not having started a single game. Meanwhile, the Rockets have just three players (Trevor Ariza, James Harden, Dwight Howard) in the top-50 in minutes. Houston also had a six-day layoff prior to the beginning of this series, while L.A. hasn't had two consecutive days off since back on April 20th and 21st, which were the days between Games 1 and 2 of the Spurs series.
Several Clipper players were clearly fatigued in the latter stages of Game 2, as the Rockets stepped on the gas and sealed their victory. The aforementioned factors should give the players an energy boost, but adrenaline can only take you so far. Combine the tired legs with the oft-maligned relative lack of depth on the L.A. bench and it has the makings of a real problem for the Clippers.
But based on the first two games, it seems safe to assert that it's extremely tough for the Rockets to stay with the Clippers when LAC is at their best. If CP3 is able to play at even 75% capacity, it's still a major upgrade over those that were filling-in for him.
One major adjustment Houston made after the half of Game 2 was having Howard guard Griffin. The clearly-healthy Howard has been the Rockets' best player during these playoffs, and he's the only Rockets player capable of matching Griffin's verticality. After scoring 26 first half points against the likes of Terrence Jones, Josh Smith and occasionally Trevor Ariza, Griffin was able to muster just eight in the second while being watched by Howard. The Rockets also threw double-teams at Blake from several different angles, and he struggled to make them pay.
While having Griffin's path to the basket more effectively walled-off, sticking Dwight on Blake does take him away from the basket, which the Clippers should be able to exploit. With Donatas Motiejunas out for the season, the Rockets have essentially nobody else capable of acting as a true rim protector, which should open up all sorts of avenues for other Clippers. Just look at the first play from the second half:
With no Chris Paul, tons of the Clipper offense is initiated by Griffin, and obviously the Rockets know this. Howard follows Griffin waaaaaay outside the perimeter, leaving his comfort zone, big time. This particular possession was a mess from the start, and the Clips had no apparent plan. Redick is receiving a pass in the high post with just over four seconds left on the shot clock, and he's eventually forced to take a contested jumper as the shot clock expires.
Howard being deployed on Griffin was a strategy that paid off for the Rockets in Game 2, but one wouldn't imagine it's one Houston wants to try too much. Howard's primary usefulness comes from his rim protection, which, as detailed above, takes a hit when Griffin's pulling him away from the paint. Also, without Chris Paul in the mix, the Clippers really had nobody else capable of breaking-down the Rockets' defense using penetration.
Assuming Paul is back and able to slice into the paint (at least a bit), Houston can't afford to have its best defensive player wallowing around 10 feet away. Griffin owns the Rockets' non-Howard bigs, but Houston can't afford to let CP3 pick them apart, either. Paul's presence means the Rockets are going to have to pick their poison, and one would imagine, at least to start, they'll try and force Paul to show that he's capable of his old tricks despite his bad wheel.
Chris Paul is the NBA's best distributor, and this is where L.A. missed him the most, particularly in Game 2. He draws the attention of a defense in a way Austin Rivers and Lester Hudson do not, and he'll either get an open 15-footer for himself or find one of his shooters wide open from deep. The Clips shot a putrid 24% from three-point range in Game 2, as most of their damage had to be done from the inside.
J.J. Redick was just 2-of-6, Matt Barnes was 0-for-5 and Jamal Crawford was 1-for-8 from beyond the arc. Crawford, in particularly, was doing a lot of his usual off-the-dribble chucking, and they weren't falling. Without Paul, the Clipper offense floundered quite a bit, and Jamal had no choice but to try and create shots for himself more often than L.A. would enjoy. Let's not forget that in Game 7 vs. San Antonio, the last game Paul played, the Clips shot a blazing 52% on their threes. While it's obviously unsustainable, it works to illustrate the different kinds of looks Paul is able to help generate simply by being a threat on the floor.
The Clippers will have their work cut out for them the rest of the way, and the Rockets are sure to be rejuvenated after claiming Game 2. Staples Center hasn't been much of a home court advantage for the Clips thus far (they went 2-2 there against the Spurs), but something tells me they'll be ready to roll tonight. It'll tip at around 7:30pm PT.
No comments:
Post a Comment