Like Father, Like Son; Austin Rivers’ Big Night Propels Clippers To Win

On a night where everyone anticipated the return of Chris Paul, it was Austin Rivers who stole the show and helped the Los Angeles Clippers surge past the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals.  Aided by a 23-0 run in the third quarter, the Clippers never looked back as they stole the game 124-99.

Rivers scored a playoff-career high 25 points against a Rockets team that struggled to find a good offensive rhythm all night and looked lost at times throughout the contest.  Chris Paul, who had not played in the series due to his left hamstring, returned to action and scored 12 points with 7 assists in 23 minutes.  Although his numbers were a far dip from what we have seen this post-season, Paul’s presence on the court provided a boost in morale as the Clippers were able to take over the game at the Staples Center.

Rivers phenomenal play gave Paul valuable time to rest, stating after the game: “I kept saying, ‘I don’t want to play anymore if I don’t have to, and seeing him do that, it gave me a chance to rest.”  Paul was also aware of what the game meant to coach Doc Rivers, saying to him on the sideline “This is one time you can be a dad and not just coach.”

J.J Redick led the team with 31 points and expressed his pleasure at having Paul back in the line-up.

"“Just having Chris back out there early kind of orchestrating things. That group, the starting five, has played so many minutes together the last two years, there’s just such a familiarity with each other and I was able to get to my spots.”"

Blake Griffin followed behind him with 22 points and 14 rebounds.  DeAndre Jordan provided 15 rebounds and was 50-percent on his free-throw shooting making 2 of 4 from the line.  By comparison, the Rockets Dwight Howard made only 4 out of 11.

The Rockets were once again led by James Harden who had 25 points and 11 assists, however his performance was overshadowed by the excellent team play of the Clippers.  Jason Terry provided 13 points before he was ejected in the fourth quarter.  Houston coach Kevin McHale expressed his displeasure with his teams’ performance, stating:

"“I didn’t think we were very — we did not play physical tonight.  I thought that we didn’t set good screens. We didn’t get into people. You know, the most disappointing thing is when the game was in the balance; we just had a lot of plays where they outran us. They outworked us.”"

The teams meet again on Sunday where Chris Paul will have had another day of rest.  For the Rockets, a loss would likely mean the end of their post-season hopes as the series would return to Los Angeles for Game 6 even if they are victorious in their return to Houston.  James Harden, while producing excellent numbers for his team, has been unable to impose his will on the game as he has during the regular season.  Dwight Howard has also been inconsistent on the offensive end, providing only 14 points in nearly forty minutes of play.  By comparison, Howard had 24 points in Game 2.

Notably for the Clippers was the amount of rest given to their starting unit.  Aside from Chris Paul who was already expected to play a limited amount of time, all of the Clippers starters played less than 37 minutes.  Over the course of the four quarters the entire roster saw playing time.

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When the game tips-off on Sunday the Clippers will have full momentum in their favor as their starting point guard will likely be even closer to 100-percent and the Staples Center will be electric to see them get a full stranglehold on the series.  With the current back-and-forth struggle between the Warriors and the Grizzlies it is beginning to look more and more as if this is the Clippers chance to make it not only to the Conference Final but beyond to play for the title.

Game 4 of the Clippers-Rockets series will be on Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles at 5:30PT live on TNT.