The Los Angeles Clippers seized control of their Western Conference Semifinals series with the Houston Rockets with a 124-99 rout in Game 3, taking a 2-1 series lead and killing whatever momentum the Rockets gained with a Game 2 triumph.
The Rockets head into Sunday attempting to regain home-court advantage, but can they stop the Clippers' Chris Paul/Blake Griffin two-headed monster and reinvigorated bench? Here's our Game 4 sneak preview.
Projected Starting Lineups
(all stats based on playoff performance only)
(2) Houston Rockets
G Jason Terry – 9.0 ppg, 2.0 apg
G James Harden – 27.4 ppg, 8.6 apg
F Trevor Ariza – 10.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg
F Terrence Jones – 11.3 ppg, 5.6 rpg
C Dwight Howard – 17.9 ppg, 13.6 rpg
(3) Los Angeles Clippers
G Chris Paul – 21.4 ppg, 7.8 apg
G JJ Redick – 15.6 ppg, 1.9 rpg
F Matt Barnes – 8.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg
F Blake Griffin – 25.1 ppg, 13.5 rpg, 7.3 apg
C DeAndre Jordan – 12.0 ppg, 13.3 rpg
What to watch for:
Do the Rockets have an answer for Los Angeles' newfound depth?
The Rockets and Clippers' benches were both written off at the start of these playoffs, with both teams' depth players widely viewed as liabilities for their respective teams. However, the Clippers have found a well of production off the pine, highlighted by Austin Rivers' absolute takeover of Game 3. James Harden and Dwight Howard are great by themselves, but they had very little help to counteract Rivers on Friday.
If the Rockets can't a) find some sort of response on their bench & b) solve the Clippers ball movement that's been killing them from the inside out, they'll be headed back to Texas on the brink of elimination.
Prediction: Clippers win 110-99
The Rockets have failed the eye test all playoffs long and we don't see that changing against a confident, surging Clippers side. They may get one in Game 5, but it's not likely that they'll tie the series on Sunday night.
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