Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Game 3 Grades and Analysis
J.J. Redick scored 31 points, Austin Rivers added 25 off the bench and the Los Angeles Clippers routed the Houston Rockets, 124-99, at the Staples Center Friday night to take a 2-1 lead in their second-round Western Conference Playoff series.
Chris Paul, who missed the first two games of the series with a hamstring injury, returned to action in Game 3.
The Clippers came out of the gates fast, taking a 33-24 lead after the first quarter. They were not able to gain any separation in the second period and went into halftime with a 64-57 edge.
However, in the third quarter, things got wild.
Behind a virtuoso performance from Rivers, Los Angeles outscored Houston 35-19 in the period and went on a 23-0 run to blow the game open.
Rivers was so brilliant that the crowd broke into "Au-stin Ri-vers!" chants.
Clippers head coach Doc Rivers was proud of his son after the game, per ESPN's Calvin Watkins:
Still, Rivers tried his best to deflect attention away from the "coach's son" narrative, per ESPN's Arash Markazi:
The Clippers continued to pour it on in the final frame, and the Rockets' frustration finally boiled over. Jason Terry hit Blake Griffin from behind, warranting an ejection.
Terry apologized postgame, per Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle:
Griffin posted 22 points and 14 rebounds.
Los Angeles shot a scalding 55 percent and made 13 of its 29 three-point attempts.
Houston made just 40 percent of its shots and went 11-of-33 from long distance. It also converted on only 18 of its 31 free-throw tries.
James Harden led the Rockets with 25 points.
Game 4 is Sunday night at the Staples Center at 8:30 p.m. ET. Catch the action on TNT.
| James Harden | B |
| Dwight Howard | B- |
| Josh Smith | B- |
| Trevor Ariza | D- |
| Terrence Jones | D+ |
| Rest of Team | B |
| Chris Paul | B |
| Blake Griffin | A- |
| DeAndre Jordan | A- |
| J.J. Redick | A+ |
| Austin Rivers | A+ |
| Rest of Team | B |
Houston Rockets
James Harden: B
James Harden could not get anything going when it mattered.
The top-flight scorer did not attempt a free throw until the third quarter and appeared to be frustrated, failing to get the kind of calls he so often does around the basket.
Harden simply could not shake himself free for most of the night. He did end up shooting 8-of-16 for 25 points, but nine of those points came when the game was essentially already decided.
He did a solid job distributing the basketball, handing out 10 assists, but the Rockets absolutely need Harden to score when things are tight.
Harden also had five turnovers.
Dwight Howard: B-
Dwight Howard may have had 14 points and 14 rebounds, but he was not incredibly effective in this contest.
For starters, Howard shot just 5-of-11, bricking some shots out of the post and simply forcing up some sloppy-looking attempts.
He also made just four of his 11 free throws.
Howard's rim protection was suspect, as well. The Clippers were able to get into the paint rather easily in the second half.
Josh Smith: B-
Josh Smith was very active in his 13 minutes.
The reserve forward grabbed nine rebounds, five of those coming on the offensive glass. He battled for loose boards throughout his entire time on the floor, and that is to be commended.
However, he wasn't nearly as effective in terms of shooting the rock.
Smith went just 3-of-10, missing a couple of easy shots inside and misfiring on all three of his three-point attempts.
He finished with seven points.
Trevor Ariza: D-
This was a rough night for Trevor Ariza.
The wing struggled with his shot all game, going just 3-of-9 and making only one of his six long-range attempts. It wasn't like he didn't get clean looks, either.
Ariza made a couple of nice plays defensively, but he failed to truly leave his fingerprints on this contest.
He scored 10 points.
Terrence Jones: D+
Terrence Jones did not make the kind of impact he did in Game 2.
While he got off to a good start, scoring eight early points, Jones faded as the game progressed. He missed numerous looks inside, clearly affected by the reach of DeAndre Jordan. He also made minimal impact on the boards, pulling down only two rebounds.
Jones recorded 12 points off 4-of-10 shooting.
Rest of Team: B
Terry scored 13 points off 5-of-9 shooting, making three triples. However, he got himself ejected for throwing a cheap shot at Griffin in the fourth quarter.
Corey Brewer posted 11 points off a 5-of-9 clip, hitting his first triple of the series. While his solid shooting did not mean much in Game 3, it could be significant going forward.
Outside of Terry and Brewer, Houston's role players did virtually nothing.
Pablo Prigioni scored six points off 2-of-8 shooting, and Clint Capela contributed one point.
Los Angeles Clippers
Chris Paul: B
After missing Games 1 and 2 with a hamstring injury, Paul returned to the floor in Game 3. While his stats may not reflect it, he looked pretty darn good.
The floor general assisted on five of the Clippers' first six field goals, running the pick-and-roll with ease. When he needed to pass, he did. When there was an opening, he pulled up and knocked down jumpers.
Paul finished with 12 points and seven assists in 23 minutes. He appeared to be moving pretty well, and while he may not be 100 percent, he looks well enough.
Blake Griffin: A-
Griffin had yet another impressive outing.
The All-Star forward poured in 22 points and 14 rebounds, going 10-of-20 from the field. He went to work inside, making great cuts to the basket, throwing down monster dunks and scoring with his back to the basket.
Six of Griffin's eight rebounds came on the offensive end.
The one blemish on Blake's performance was his ball control. Griffin committed seven turnovers, sometimes dribbling the ball into traffic and trying to get too fancy with his handle in transition.
Otherwise, he was terrific.
DeAndre Jordan: A-
Jordan was solid.
He only made two field goals, both coming off his typical dunks, but he was terrific on the glass with 15 rebounds. Jordan also made a few nice dishes and tallied three assists.
While he did not have any blocks, he was certainly a rim deterrent, altering plenty of shots inside.
The most impressive stat for Jordan, though, was his plus-36 plus-minus.
J.J. Redick: A+
What a performance by Redick.
The sharpshooting wing dropped a playoff career-high 31 points off an 11-of-14 clip, making five of his six long-distance tries.
Redick set the tone early, draining three treys and scoring 11 of his points in the first quarter. He had the Rockets' defense scrambling as he quickly curled around screens and launched triples.
Redick also played terrific defense on Harden, sticking to him like glue in spite of Harden's furious attempts to shake him.
What's more, the Duke product did not commit a single turnover.
Austin Rivers: A+
Rivers may have been the best player on the floor in Game 3. No; that is not a typo.
The coach's son went off for 25 points in 23 minutes. Rivers got great dribble penetration, finished tough shots around the rim and buried three triples. He shot 10-of-13.
Rivers was so terrific that he was serenaded with "Au-stin Ri-vers" chants from the crowd.
His emergence in this series has become a significant X-factor and could end up being the difference. Who would have thought that would happen two weeks ago?
Rest of Team: B
Jamal Crawford was much better in Game 3 than Game 2.
He scored 12 points off 4-of-9 shooting and racked up six steals in 27 minutes. Sure, some of his shot attempts were questionable, but at least he shot 44.4 percent this time around.
Matt Barnes scored seven points and played some nice defense, including a block on a Harden layup attempt in the first half.
Spencer Hawes gave the Clippers some good minutes early, blocking a couple of shots and making a couple of sweet passes.
