It was a case of ‘No CP3? No worries!’ for the Los Angeles Clippers, as they secured a 16-point victory (117-101) against the Rockets in Houston on Tuesday afternoon (AEST).
The Clippers were expected to struggle in the opening round of their Western Conference semi-final against the second seed, Houston; The boys from LA entered the game on a two-day turnaround from their Game 7 win against the reigning champions, San Antonio, and were forced to hit the court without their star point guard, Chris Paul.
Paul starred in series decider against the Spurs, but was forced from the opening match against the Rockets with a hamstring injury he sustained and played with for a large portion of the Game 7 win.
Austin Rivers was called on to step in for Paul for Game 1, putting in a strong performance with 17 points and 3 assists.
Blake Griffen led the way in the absence of Paul, landing an impressive triple-double with 26 points 13 assists and 14 rebounds.
Matt Barnes was also solid for the visitors, racking up 20 points and 5 rebounds.
Dwight Howard led the scoring for the Rockets with 22, closely followed by James Harden with 20.
Harden racked up a game-high 12 assists, but countered his efforts also notching up a game-high 9 turnovers.
After moving past Dallas in five games, it appears as if the break between series may have hindered the Rockets more than it helped, as they came up against a team sharp and in form from a challenging seven game series.
Game 2 of the series at Toyota Center in Houston kicks off at 11:30am (AEST) on Thursday.
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