Griffin, Clippers Finding Chemistry Can Overcome Almost Anything in Playoffs

Dig a little deeper into big playoff victories and you see that so much goes into them.

It might not look the case for the Los Angeles Clippers, seemingly riding high from the Game 7 momentum of knocking off the defending champion San Antonio Spurs on Saturday and carrying it right on through to a win over the Houston Rockets, 117-101, Monday to start the second round.

Yet an eye-opening performance like this one without injured Chris Paul doesn't happen without a winding staircase backstage bringing a team to this step-up moment for all to see.

Some of the key steps along the way:

•The Donald Sterling struggle a year ago, obviously. 

•Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Matt Barnes all at Jamal Crawford's August wedding in Seattle.

•The group texts the team shared after J.J. Redick's boy was born around the same time.

•How many times Paul has propped up Griffin publicly in recent years as the team's "go-to guy."

•The family feeling around the team that features the friendship of Paul's, Barnes' and Crawford's boisterous sons all through the locker room and Staples Center halls after victories.

•Griffin and Jordan being close friends for half a decade now.

•And most notably now, noteworthy offseason acquisitions Spencer Hawes (benched) and Jordan Farmar (waived) making no impact on this current team—with the only player adding something new being Austin Rivers, indirectly a part of the Clippers family (and the Sterling ordeal) all along as Doc Rivers' son.   

The chemistry the Clippers have been claiming as superior was there Monday: legit leadership from Griffin and Jordan on the court and Paul on the bench; real confidence from Barnes, Redick, Crawford and Rivers—as seen by them locking in to go 13-of-27 (48 percent) on three-pointers.

It should be acknowledged in this moment.

And it could decide this series that looks on the surface to be just about a handful of headline guys.

One game, however, is not nearly enough to conclude that James Harden and Dwight Howard have failed to build the same sense of community in their co-star system.

Harden and Howard most definitely will now be looking to push back against the Game 1 evidence that their leadership is lacking.

Coming out overconfident at home against a weary team missing someone as integral as Paul might be understandable, but you've got to find that sense of urgency if you didn't bring it to the opening tip. Top playoff teams do that all the time. If they let their professionalism and focus slip, they tap back into it on the fly, unleash the talent and win anyway.

Instead, Josh Smith and Terrence Jones kept flipping up low-percentage shots after Harden had set the low bar with his careless play that concluded with nine turnovers.

"James was just like the rest of the team," Rockets coach Kevin McHale told reporters afterward. "We didn't have any zip."

For a Clippers team uncertain about offensive execution without Paul, Houston offered up belief by allowing 34 points off turnovers. It was the sort of edgeless effort that went far beyond being without both role players Patrick Beverley (wrist) and Donatas Motiejunas (back) for these playoffs.

Howard clinched the loss by missing two free throws in the final minutes, while Jordan hit two before and Griffin hit two after.

Prior to the free-throw back-and-forth, the Clippers big men put L.A. in position to win with a pair of key assists that epitomized the communal Clippers feeling on this night.

Jordan's was a well-timed pass to the right corner for Barnes' three-pointer, with Harden and Howard standing together without even moving before Jordan passed from the lane. Howard then rotated late toward Barnes; Harden never even tried.

Griffin gave it up on the next possession to the left corner for a Crawford three-pointer, with Harden and Howard noticeably the last two Rockets getting back into the play in transition defense. Even Smith put forth the effort to hustle, exposing just how half-speed Howard and Harden were going even as the game was slipping away.

Both Houston stars owned up to it after the game, though they failed to explain any of it.

They'd better change it Wednesday night in Game 2, because they figure to have the personnel advantage again to go with home court.

It'd be surprising if the Clippers brought Paul back so soon from his hamstring injury. The logical plan might've slipped out from Rivers to reporters before the game, when he said about Paul's absence, "It could be two games," before backtracking and tacking on, "It could be one."

Even with All-Stars on hand, series openers are never real conclusions in stories.

But it's misguided to believe they are opening chapters.

In this case, Griffin needed the opportunity while Paul was hurt last season to run the Clippers' show, complete with newfound ball-handling and passing that lifted him to third in the 2014 NBA MVP voting. Griffin came to trust that he could make his teammates better, and he built on that big-time in the last round against San Antonio.

Then without Paul on Monday, Griffin's trust in his teammates became the springboard step to get the Clippers up to grab Game 1 in Houston.

It might not be enough to be celebrated with an NBA title if Paul can't heal well enough, or the Clippers bench just doesn't run deep enough or the shaky defensive rotations ultimately won't come fast enough.

But Griffin's game and other good things are growing quite organically out of the comfort zone created by this Clippers community.

"This year of all years," Barnes said, "I think we're really starting to understand what mental toughness is."

It can be Paul's remarkable determination, as seen in Game 7 against San Antonio.

It can also be a group of guys who believe they work well together, maybe even belong together, having confidence they can win without Paul's skilled presence or remarkable determination on the floor.

 

Kevin Ding covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @KevinDing.