The L.A. Clippers haven't enjoyed consecutive off days since the two days in between Games 1 and 2 of the Spurs series back on April 21-22. They came into Houston on Tuesday up three games to one in their current series with the Rockets, with a golden opportunity to close it out and finally get a few days of rest. Unfortunately for the Clippers, the Rockets had other ideas.
Houston played its best game of the series to this point by far, crushing L.A. 124-103 at Toyota Center. James Harden, who had been fighting through a cold throughout the day, finished with a triple-double of 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists, while Dwight Howard came back from his suboptimal Game 4 performance to contribute 20 points and 15 boards.
The Clippers were dealt a blow early when DeAndre Jordan had to go to the bench after picking up a pair of early fouls. Leading 16-15 when he went out, the Clips were then outscored 12-6 for the rest of the first quarter. D.J. returned at the 11-minute mark of the second quarter, only to pick up foul No. 3 within two minutes, which forced him to sit for the remainder of the half. This effectively killed L.A., as the Rockets found their way to the rim at will any time Jordan was on the bench. Houston would go on to outscore the Clips by 10 in the second and carried a 64-48 lead into the half.
Blake Griffin woke up following the break, and led a mini Clipper run to cut Houston's lead to just 13 at 83-70 near the end of the third. In a desperate attempt to halt the flow, Kevin McHale called for the good ol' hack-a-Jordan strategy, which actually paid off. D.J. wound up hitting two-of-four attempts from the line, but the Rockets were able to reestablish their own offensive rhythm and were able to fend the Clips' rally away.
For the first time during the playoffs, the Clippers appeared tired. The Rockets rightfully played with the desperation of a team staring elimination in the face and refused to let their season end in embarrassing fashion on their own floor.
L.A. also had a couple of injury scares in this game, though neither is expected to be a problem moving forward. Matt Barnes briefly went to the locker room during the third quarter with an ankle injury, though he got it re-taped and returned to the game. On the last play of the third quarter, Austin Rivers fell hard on his right hip, though he, too, returned to action later on.
Speaking of Rivers, he came crashing back to reality in a big way in this game. The coach's son hit just three of his 11 shot attempts for 8 points, and was a team-worst -17 in his time on the floor. Jamal Crawford struggled tremendously, as well, finishing just 2-for-10 for a series-low five points. The only Clipper reserve to contribute much of anything was the little-used Spencer Hawes, who scored 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting and grabbed five boards, as well.
Griffin put up impressive numbers yet again, scoring a game-high 30 points and 16 rebounds. However, his two assists were the fewest he's had in any game since way back on December 8th against Phoenix. The Clips truly had plenty of opportunities to do damage in this game, but the shots were just not falling. LAC was just 9-for-35 from three-point range, and finished the game shooting over 41% from the field.
The Rockets' bench was fantastic, as Terrence Jones, Corey Brewer and Clint Capela combined to score 35 points. The Clips' second unit was limited to a mere 24.
In this game, Houston actually looked like the team that won 56 games during the regular season, tied with the Clippers for the second-most in the West. Patient offense combined with disciplined defense, as well as a steady dosage of transition scoring chances. The Clippers are obviously still in the driver's seat, and still have two chances to end this thing.
Game 6 in L.A. will be Thursday at 7:30pm PT.
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