NBA Playoffs Rd 2/Game 1: Houston Rockets Misfire Against LA Clippers 117-101

It has been nearly one week since the Houston Rockets took part in a basketball game.

Fortunately, they had the luxury of getting some rest while they took care of business against the Dallas Mavericks just last Tuesday, beating them four games to one.

I sometimes worry that if rest is a good thing for the Rockets because usually when they have too much, I’ve noticed over this season that they’ll come out flat and lack a sense of rhythm with their game.

If this team gets too much rest, that’s exactly what happens and it’s certainly a bad thing.

I do, however, feel that it’s good thing for Dwight Howard as he can use all the rest he can to ensure that his knee holds up throughout the duration of the playoffs.

So far, he has benefited quite well and he looks like how did in his younger playing days which wasn’t too long ago.

But three teams later, here he is in H-Town, one of the two cornerstones etched into the bowels of Toyota Center.

Surprisingly, the Rockets didn’t come out like I thought they would against the Los Angeles Clippers — their new opponent — and they seem to have picked up right where they left off.

Let’s talk about how they did.

In the first quarter, from the beginning, things were extremely tight with each team trading buckets between one another.

Trevor Ariza got himself off to a nice start with 11 quick points out of the gate and put the Rockets up by three with a three in a play that was executed perfectly at the 4:31 mark.  Rockets 15, Clippers 12

The ball was moving around fluidly and the Rockets found the open man — this time it happened to be Ariza or Three-za which is more appropriate for him!

James Harden immersed himself into the game and he was able to reel off eight points before the end of the quarter, nailing a three-pointer with four seconds left.

The put the Rockets up 25-19 at the end of the 1st.

The 2nd quarter belonged to Howard — he completely dominated and it showed as there wasn’t much that his defensive assignments could do to stop him.

The Rockets tended to run a lot more pick-and-roll with Howard the recipient of many alley-oops/buckets to put the Rockets up by as much as 10 points with 5:18 left.  Rockets 43, Clippers 33

But the Rockets started missing their shots and this allowed the Clippers to go on a 9-2 run to close within three points with 1:39 left.  Rockets 45, Clippers 42

This was after Blake Griffin connected on a penalty free throw while in the act of shooting that he connected.

Josh Smith was the player charged with the foul.

The Rox continued to hold on and they lead the Clips by four –50-46 — at the half.

Howard had 11 points and eight rebounds on the night by that point.

Although the Rockets maintained their leadership, the game sloppy defensively on both ends of the floor which certainly allowed both teams to stay striking distance between each other.

Both teams were already in the double-digits in terms of turnovers — the Rockets had 14 turnovers compared to the Clippers 13.

The Rockets were shooting 43 percent from the field, 5-for-12 from behind-the-arc for 42 percent which was pretty darn good.

But the Clippers were playing close to zero defense to allow those stats to balloon.

It doesn’t matter to me — this certainly benefited the Rockets.

The Rockets did outscore the Clippers 15-7 in terms of fastbreak points but were slightly edged 10-5 as far as 2nd chance points.

Next: So What Happened In The 2nd Half?