Rockets wake up, clobber Clippers in Game 5 to stave off elimination
It took until the fifth game, but the Houston Rockets finally played with a sense of urgency over the full 48 minutes in their conference semifinals series against the Los Angeles Clippers. The eventual result does not seem like mere coincidence.
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Down 3-1 to the Clippers, the Rockets treated Wednesday’s Game 5 at the Toyota Center as the elimination game it was and impressed on their way to a season-extending 124-103 win. Houston bounced back from a debacle of a Game 4 and got a James Harden triple-double plus solid performances throughout the rotation to stave off elimination. Nevertheless, the challenge continues for the Rockets on Thursday at Staples Center, when the Clippers will surely be more vigilant as they attempt to close out the series at home.
The Rockets’ romp began around the 4:24 mark of the first quarter, when Clippers center DeAndre Jordan picked up his second foul during a Dwight Howard putback attempt. Apart from saving the viewing public from the horror of another extreme Hack-a-DJ display, Jordan’s foul trouble robbed the Clippers of their only true rim protector on a night when the Rockets made a special point of attacking the basket. Not surprisingly, Houston started a 12-4 quarter-ending run about a minute after Jordan’s departure to finish the first up 27-22. Dwight Howard, easily the most consistent Rocket of the series, pulled down five offensive rebounds to help his teammates through 11-of-27 shooting from the field and 1-of-7 from deep.
Any plans for Jordan to change that dynamic in the third quarter ended as soon as he picked up his third foul at the 9:14 mark on a Harden shot attempt near the basket. The Clippers big man sat the rest of the half, logging only nine minutes before the break. On a related note, the Rockets thrived inside with 36 points in the paint and a terrific showing from Howard, who put up a first-half double-double (15 points and 11 rebounds) for the third time in the series. Crucially, though, Harden joined him with a more assertive performance including 7-of-8 from the line (including six attempts in the second quarter) for 17 points. After three of four games in which he looked content to pass out of most uncomfortable situations, the MVP runner-up forced the issue and saw the Rockets soar because of it.
It helped that the Clippers looked decidedly less locked in than they had at any other point of the series. That’s not exactly surprising given the circumstances — up 3-1 is not down 3-1 — but the best team of the playoffs played as poorly as it had since a Game 3 blowout to the San Antonio Spurs in the first round. While Blake Griffin played with energy (14 points on 13 attempts and 11 rebounds in the half) and Chris Paul was perfectly fine (10 points and six assists), Los Angeles did not get the excellent secondary play that has made them such a handful over the past few weeks. J.J. Redick followed a horrific first quarter (1-of-7 FG and 1-of-5 3FG) with no attempts in the second, and Matt Barnes missed all five of his attempts before the break. As a team, the Clippers shot 20-of-53 from the field (37.7 percent) and 5-of-20 from long range while subsisting largely on 12 offensive rebounds. Unfortunately, they allowed the same number of extra chances to the Rockets (off only 24 missed shots), who shot far better at 23-of-47 from the field. The combination of poor L.A. defense and aggressive Houston offense helped the hosts enter halftime with a 63-48 lead, the largest deficit faced by the Clippers in the series.
It didn’t get much better for them from there. Griffin and Paul came out strong on their way to 18 points in the third quarter, but the Clippers never managed to maintain adequate defensive energy or a quality scheme and never cut the lead to fewer than 13 points in the third. They made an effort towards a fourth quarter comeback, as well, but the Rockets continued to their excellent offensive execution to secure the blowout victory.
Harden (26 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds) and Howard (20 points and 15 boards) deserve the bulk of the credit for that success, but for once in this series the Rockets got a full-team effort dependent on more than a tightly called game or a particularly good shooting night. The role players were stellar on Wednesday, with Trevor Ariza (22 points on 8-of-12 FG and 4-of-6 3FG), Terrence Jones (12 points after moving out of the starting lineup), and Corey Brewer (15 points on 5-of-8 FG and 5-of-6 FT) providing extra punch to a team that has needed more. Even little-used big man Clint Capela got in on the action with this second-quarter posterization of Spencer Hawes:
It’s telling that Harden shot no free throws in the second half and the Rockets still excelled, proving that making necessary adjustments to an approach is a more effective playoff strategy than hoping referees start to blow their whistles at the first sign of contact. The Rockets finally looked as if they understood the gravity of their situation. It’s a shame that it required them to go to the brink of elimination to figure it out.
However, it’s hard to say that they matched an elite opponent, because the Clippers did not bring the same energy and focus that have made them such a revelation in these playoffs. Part of that can be chalked up to Jordan’s foul trouble and poor shooting from secondary players — Redick (1-of-8 3FG), Barnes (1-of-8 FG), Jamal Crawford (five points on 2-of-10 FG), and Austin Rivers (eight points on 3-of-11 FG) were all quite bad. But it’s also an understandable reaction to the circumstances of the series. The Rockets had shown little fight before Game 5, and it’s possible that the Clippers did not expect this kind of response. After a seven-game epic vs. the Spurs and four impressive showings vs. the Rockets, the Clippers looked like less than a championship contender. They acknowledged as much after the game:
The problem for Houston is that it seems very unlikely that Los Angeles will look similarly lethargic for Game 6. This team understands the stakes of this series — a first-ever trip to the conference finals, for one — and they have shown an ability to embrace the moment throughout the postseason. They will be prepared.
In other words, that means the Rockets have only really passed the easiest of the three challenges they set up by falling behind 3-1. The next one figures to ask much more of everyone in red and yellow.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
