Harden and Lin man-handle Clippers in game #1
James Harden scored 40 points and the Rockets shot 60% from the floor en route to a 26-point win in game #1 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals.
The Rockets had 82 points in the paint, 30 fast break points and rocked the crowd with 17 dunks.
The Clippers led by 8 points in the first quarter, but the Rockets quickly took the lead back. The Rockets made the final push in the fourth quarter when they scored 45 points on 69% shooting, making 5-5 from 3PT range.
Box Score
(3) HOU (1-0) | 31 | 31 | 25 | 45 || 132 ||
(7) LAC (0-1) | 27 | 26 | 26 | 27 || 106 ||
Player of the Game : James Harden
| 40 PTS | 6 REBS | 8 ASTS | 0 STLS | 1 BLKS | 16-30 FG | 4-11 3 PT FG | 4-4 FT
Jeremey Lin : 20 points, 3 rebounds, 14 assists, 6 steals, 8-15 FG
Thomas Robinson : 18 points, 12 rebounds, 8-9 FG
Chandler Parsons : 16 points
Carlos Delfino : 14 points, 6-8 FG
Larry Sanders : 9 points, 4 rebounds, 4-5 FG
Omer Asik : 7 points, 6 rebounds
Jamal Crawford : 22 points, 10-21 FG
Blake Griffin : 15 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists
DeAndre Jordan : 11 points, 7 rebounds, 5-6 FG
Chris Paul : 11 points, 8 assists, 3 steals, 5-7 FG
Chauncey Billups : 10 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists
Griffin and Paul deliver big double-doubles, Clippers tie up series
Blake Griffin had 25 points and 19 rebounds, the latter being a season-high, and the Clippers stole #2 on the road by 20 points, out-scoring the Rockets 36-17 in the final period.
Chris Paul was out-played by Jeremy Lin in game #1, game #2 was a complete 180, as Chris Paul toyed with Jeremy Lin on both ends.
James Harden had 36 for the Rockets with others struggling (Parsons 4-15, Lin 4-10).
Box Score :
(3) HOU (1-1) | 21 | 27 | 30 | 17 || 95 ||
(7) LAC (1-1) | 33 | 22 | 24 | 36 || 115 ||
Player of the Game : Blake Griffin
| 25 PTS | 19 REBS | 2 ASTS | 0 STLS | 1 BLKS | 12-17 FG | 0-0 3 PT FG | 1-1 FT
James Harden : 36 points, 4 rebounds, 15-26 FG, 4-8 3PT
Chandler Parsons : 12 points, 5 rebounds
Larry Sanders : 10 points, 9 rebounds, 5-6 FG
Jeremey Lin : 10 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists
Carlos Delfino : 10 points
Chris Paul : 24 points, 13 assists, 3 steals, 11-18 FG
Caron Butler : 18 points
Lamar Odom : 11 points, 3 rebounds, 9 minutes
Jamal Crawford : 11 points, 5-17 FG, 1-7 3PT
DeAndre Jordan : 10 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals, 4-5 FG
Harden flirts with triple-double as Rockets re-gain home court advantage
James Harden scored 40 points, the second time in three games, and led the Rockets to a 117-102 win over the Clippers to regain home court advantage after losing game #2 at home.
Harden had 40 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists. Chandler Parsons had 20 points and Jeremy Lin had 5 big steals with 16 points and 8 assists.
The Clippers need to make some serious adjustments to try and stop Harden, who is averaging 38.7 points, 7.7 assists and 6 rebounds on 54% shooting (41% from three).
Box Score
(3) HOU (2-1) | 26 | 38 | 25 | 28 || 117 ||
(7) LAC (1-2) | 26 | 21 | 39 | 16 || 102 ||
Player of the Game : James Harden
| 40 PTS | 8 REBS | 12 ASTS | 0 STLS | 0 BLKS | 15-29 FG | 3-8 3 PT FG | 7-7 FT
Chandler Parsons : 20 points, 4 rebounds, 8-15 FG
Jeremey Lin : 16 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals, 6-12 FG
Carlos Delfino : 13 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 5-5 FG, 3-3 3PT
Thomas Robinson : 11 points, 7 rebounds, 5-9 FG
Caron Butler : 20 points, 9 rebounds
Chris Paul : 18 points, 6 assists, 2 steals
Chauncey Billups : 13 points
Jamal Crawford : 11 points
Blake Griffin : 10 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks
DeAndre Jordan : 6 points, 7 rebounds
Martti. wrote:2K13's configuration was much better, the flashy passing option isn't necessary.
Lin calm under pressure to push Clippers on brink of elimination
James Harden missed his first 4 shots, and despite scoring 20 points by halftime, was really out of his regular rhythm and was forcing shots. He was 7-18 from the field and 3-8 from deep.
Jeremy Lin and Chandler Parsons chipped in amidst Harden's struggles. Parsons had 12 at halftime and Lin had 5 assists. Jamal Crawford was on fire in the first quarter, scoring 19 points in the first quarter alone.
With Sanders, Livingston, Delfino and Morris racking up points and minutes in the second quarter, the Rockets built up a 7-point half-time lead. Delfino scored 12, Sanders had 7 and Marcus Morris scored 9 points, making it the biggest bench scoring total of the series.
James Harden was much more efficient in the second half, going 7-10 from the field. But Jeremy Lin was the real catalyst.
In the fourth quarter, he scored 8 points and had 3 of his 4 steals and helped spark a key 9-1 run late in the quarter to help put the Rockets ahead by 7, 114-107. Thomas Robinson, Marcus Morris and Lin helped seal the deal at the line, not missing in the final 2 minutes.
The Rockets will head home and look to close out the Clippers in game 5.
Box Score
(3) HOU (3-1) | 29 | 34 | 27 | 33 || 123 ||
(7) LAC (1-3) | 30 | 26 | 38 | 19 || 113 ||
Player of the Game : Jeremy Lin
| 22 PTS | 5 REBS | 8 ASTS | 4 STLS | 0 BLKS | 9-14 FG | 0-1 3 PT FG | 4-5 FT
James Harden : 31 points, 5 rebounds, 12-28 FG, 4-10 3PT
Chandler Parsons : 24 points, 7 rebounds, 10-18 FG
Jeremey Lin : 16 points, 3 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals, 6-12 FG
Thomas Robinson : 16 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 blocks, 7-11 FG
Carlos Delfino : 12 points, 4-6 3PT
Marcus Morris : 9 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
Larry Sanders : 7 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists
Jamal Crawford : 30 points, 13-24 FG
Chris Paul : 25 points, 8 assists, 11-19 FG
Caron Butler : 14 points, 3 rebounds, 6-10 FG
Chauncey Billups : 12 points, 5 assists, 5-7 FG
Blake Griffin : 12 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocks, 6-12 FG
DeAndre Jordan : 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists, 5-7 FG
Martti. wrote:Harden...was really out of his regular rhythm and was forcing shots. He was 7-18 from the field and 3-8 from deep.
Crawford scores 44 to keep Clippers' season alive
The Clippers and the Rockets don't have the letter D in their name and that was on display last night, as the two teams combined for 258 points and no, there wasn't an overtime period.
The Clippers were facing elimination, but lacked intensity at the start of the game. Chandler Parsons and James Harden scored in the paint and the Rockets jumped to an 12-4 lead. But Chris Paul and Blake Griffin played a two-man game and the Rockets had no answers for the pick-and-roll.
Jamal Crawford turned it up with 16 points in the second quarter when Harden and Parsons took a breather. The Rockets got a boost from an unlikely source - Larry Sanders. The back-up center had been contributing nicely in the series, playing solid defense on the Clippers front-court.
But his 17-point, 8-8 shooting first half was like lightning on a clear day. The highlight of which was a monster dunk on Lamar Odom. (video below)
The Clippers still help a 2-point lead thanks to a 0 turnover first half.
The Clippers didn't relinquish their lead for the rest of the game, but weren't able to grow it larger then 7 points.
Jamal Crawford kept out-playing James Harden (who did finish with 39 points), scoring 24 points in the second half. The Rockets got to within 1 point in the fourth quarter, but Jeremy Lin consequently fouled out and the Clippers responded with a 10-0 run. The Clippers had an 8-point lead with little over a minute left and the game looked over.
James Harden did what he could, scoring 9 points in the final minute on three 3-pointers to cut into the deficit, but the Clippers went flawless from the foul line to maintain their lead and extend the series at least one game.
After a breakout game #5, coach McHale has hinted that Larry Sanders will start game #6. "I really like his athleticism and energy, Omer has gotten off to slow starts, maybe a reserve role will do him good."
Sanders is out-playing his starting counterpart this series :
Sanders : 10.6 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 71% FG, 17.4 minutes
Asik : 3.8 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 78% FG, 23.2 minutes
Box Score
(3) HOU (3-2) | 32 | 29 | 31 | 35 || 127 ||
(7) LAC (2-3) | 31 | 32 | 25 | 43 || 131 ||
Player of the Game : Jamal Crawford
| 44 PTS | 0 REBS | 2 ASTS | 1 STLS | 1 BLKS | 17-29 FG | 3-8 3 PT FG | 7-7 FT
James Harden : 39 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists, 15-25 FG, 5-10 3PT
Chandler Parsons : 27 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 12-20 FG
Larry Sanders : 24 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 11-15 FG
Thomas Robinson : 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3-6 FG, 7-7 FT
Carlos Delfino : 11 points, 3-7 3PT
Jeremey Lin : 6 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 6 fouls
Caron Butler : 30 points, 5 rebounds, 13-14 FG, 1-2 3PT, 3-3 FT
Chris Paul : 22 points, 3 rebounds, 15 assists, 3 steals, 5-13 FG, 12-12 FT
Blake Griffin : 21 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 9-14 FG
DeAndre Jordan : 2 points, 11 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks
Harden and Lin clutch down the stretch, Rockets advance in 6
Jeremy Lin really struggled in game #5 with just 6 points before fouling out. In game #6, it was a different story. He filled up the stat sheet with 22 points, 7 rebounds (4 offensive), 14 assists and 5 steals.
James Harden was the star as usual with 47 points and 6 rebounds. 6 scored in double-figures for the Clippers.
The game looked over from the start with the Rockets jumping out to an 11-4 lead, which led to an 11-point lead after the first 12 minutes.
Within the first few minutes, that lead was 16. After a time-out, the Clippers toughened up their defense and out-scored the Rockets 29-18 to come within 5. James Harden had 24 points at the half and Jeremy Lin had 7 points and 6 assists.
With the game close for the next one and a half quarters, there were 9 ties and 10 lead changes.
With 3 minutes left, the Clippers had built a 104-96 lead. Jeremy Lin scored 5 straight points and found Thomas Robinson and James Harden for easy buckets to take the lead. Thomas Robinson's steal and fast-break dunk put the visitors up by 3 with a minute left, 111-108.
Chris Paul answered with a lay-up of his own. James Harden was doubled, who almost turned it over, but found Jeremy Lin who beat Paul off the dribble and drove to the basket to give the Rockets a 3-point lead again with 29 seconds left.
The Clippers couldn't score the rest of the way and James Harden went 4-4 from the stripe to put the game away.
The Rockets will face the #1 seed, Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
Box Score
(3) HOU (4-2) | 33 | 23 | 26 | 35 || 117 ||
(7) LAC (2-4) | 22 | 29 | 31 | 28 || 110 ||
Player of the Game : James Harden
| 47 PTS | 6 REBS | 2 ASTS | 3 STLS | 2 BLKS | 16-27 FG | 3-8 3 PT FG | 12-12 FT
Jeremey Lin : 22 points, 7 rebounds, 14 assists, 5 steals, 7-13 FG, 7-7 FT
Chandler Parsons : 14 points, 6-10 FG
Larry Sanders : 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks
Thomas Robinson : 10 points, 7 rebounds
Carlos Delfino : 9 points, 2 assists, 2 steals
Omer Asik : 4 points, 5 rebounds
Jamal Crawford : 22 points, 2 steals, 2 blocks, 9-18 FG
Chris Paul : 22 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists, 8-18 FG, 6-6 FT
Blake Griffin : 17 points, 13 rebounds, 2 steals
Caron Butler : 15 points, 3 rebounds, 7-10 FG
DeAndre Jordan : 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks, 6-6 FG
Chauncey Billups : 10 points, 3 rebounds, 4-6 FG, 2-2 3PT
Martti. wrote:In this world, he's much better. And he plays a little defense, not 0 like his real-life counterpart. Now I see why he averages 25-5-5, cause he doesn't waste energy defending.
Martti. wrote:Player of the Game : James Harden
12-12 FT
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