Clippers-Rockets Game 3: A View From Inside Staples Center

On a day when it rained in Los Angeles (miracles do happen), some more unusual things were going on during Game 3 of the Houston Rockets-Los Angeles Clippers Western Conference Semifinal Series. We saw “Big Baby” Glen Davis soaring for a dunk, Matt Barnes having a technical foul called for him instead of against him, and we saw two former Duke Blue Devils turn Staples Center into Cameron Indoor Stadium West.

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Full disclosure as a Lakers fan I had never been to a NBA Playoff game, but when a ticket became available through a work connection I could not pass up a chance to see an NBA Playoff game live. From the opening introductions, Clipper fans were making a concerted effort to blow the roof off of Staples Center. They cheered loudly every time the Clippers hit one of their thirteen 3-pointers, they groaned every time a foul was called against their team, and they saved their greatest booing for a faux-celebrity sighting of some of the Kardashians.

The big story of the day was Matt Barnes informing the media that Chris Paul would play for the first time in this series. Inside Staples every time Paul touched the ball it felt like the fans wanted to will him into another Game 7 performance. Though slowed by a tweaked hamstring, Paul’s passing opened up lanes for Blake Griffin on pick-and-roll plays to expose Houston’s poor interior defense.

Just as every one of his dunks brought people to their feet, equally Blake Griffin’s seven turnovers brought groans and yelling. Someone two rows behind me insisted that Griffin should no longer bring the ball up the court even though this had been the most effective play that helped the Clippers split the first two games in Houston. Still Griffin’s athleticism continues to frustrate the Rockets, as he whirled and twirled his way around Dwight Howard collecting 22 points and 14 rebounds.

The loudest cheers of the night were reserved for J.J. Redick and Austin Rivers, two players who have a polarizing effect on how they are perceived. Redick once the poster boy for fans who hate Duke basketball, so much he was once serenaded by Maryland fans with profane chants at the free throw line. Now the jump shooting guard was bringing Clippers fans to their feet as he started the first quarter 3-3 from the three-point line and was the leading scorer of the game with 31 points.

May 8, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard J.J. Redick (4) shoots a three point basket against the Houston Rockets during the second half in game three of the second round of the NBA Playoffs. at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The turning point of the night was reserved for the other Duke alumnus Austin Rivers whose late 4th quarter turnover in the Game 2 Clipper’s loss once again brought out a chorus of criticism on Coach/GM Doc Rivers for trading for his own son. By the end of the third quarter you had to speculate who was more vindicated, Doc Rivers the Dad or Doc Rivers the GM?

Austin Rivers blew open what was a close a six point game with 4 minutes left in the third quarter, with a dizzying array of step back three-pointers and winding reverse lay ups, pushing the Clippers on a 23-0 run that pretty much ended the game before the fourth quarter started. When Rivers was taken out, a wave of blue-shirted Clippers fans, 18,000 strong rose and started an Austin Rivers chant that turned Staples Center into a coronation party as the Clippers won 124-99 and took a 2-1 series lead.

Walking out of the arena Clippers fans were in a giddy mood recalling the Redick and Rivers performance, and the notion that when completely healthy the Rockets had no chance against their Clippers. Like I said it rained in Los Angeles and Austin Rivers received a standing ovation, stranger things have happened.

Next: Austin Rivers Lifts L.A. Clippers In Game 3

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