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Houston Rockets' James Harden and Dwight Howard battle for position with Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin during their game on May 4, 2015 at the Toyota CenterCleveland (AFP) - The Los Angeles Clippers rose to the challenge of playing without Chris Paul as they wasted no time wrestling away home-court advantage from Houston with a 117-101 win.
Paul, who injured his hamstring in game seven against the San Antonio Spurs Saturday, watched from the sidelines as his teammates prevailed in game one of the best-of-seven Western Conference semi-finals.
"We don't mention injuries, we don't talk about them, we just tell our guys to keep executing and play and our guys did that," said Clippers coach Doc Rivers.