NBA Playoffs Rd 2/Game 6: Houston Rockets Roll Late To Beat LA Clippers 117-109
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Never say die…don’t estimate the heart of champion…all of the above!
Your Houston Rockets are still very much alive and have climbed their way back into this series!
The impossible, the improbable happened last night!
This team was down by as much as 19 points in the 3rd quarter and somehow they found their heart and got their way back into the game.
As talented as our opponent is, the Los Angeles Clippers, they rolled over a played possum while the Rockets mounted one of the greatest comebacks in playoff franchise history.
This is just one of those games that makes you proud to be a Rockets’ fan!
I know I am in every sense of the word!
Holy cow!
Let’s talk about how this hell of a game came together!
In the 1st quarter, I thought that this would be a long game as the Clippers sprinted out to a 12-4 lead with Blake Griffin leading the charge.
But the Rockets climbed their way back into the game with the assistance of James Harden, Terrence Jones and Trevor Ariza to close the gap to four points with 1:49 left.
This was after a three-pointer that Ariza nailed to make it 24-20.
This quarter was like the teeter-tottering of a see-saw as the Clippers went up by nine points but fought their way back to trail by only four points — 29-25 — at the end of the first.
The 2nd quarter was one of recovery — the Rockets took the lead for the first time since 11:26 in the first when they lead 2-0 with the score being 43-41.
This was after Harden swished two free throws.
The Rockets were up by as much as six points when they took a 54-48 lead after Josh Smith made a pair of free throws with 4:31 left.
But each team battle back-and-forth and the Rockets ended up trailing 64-62 at the half once the dust had settled.
The Rockets still look solid against the Clippers but something wasn’t quite there just yet.
Harden had already netted 21 points and Griffin had 20 on the night.
After the half, the Rockets slid terribly in the wrong direction as they went cold and let the Clippers take over with them leading by as much as 19 points after Chris Paul drove in on a reverse. Clippers 89, Rockets 70
This was the low point of the game and many of us fans thought that this team was dead in the water and that the demise of the season was imminent.
The Clippers continued to take a command lead to stay on top of the Rockets 92-79 at the end of the third.
But let’s talk about the 4th quarter, perhaps one of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoff history!
Dwight Howard and our role players put on their hard hats and went to work, which was an amazing thing to watch!
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Corey Brewer started it out with a drive to the bucket to get fouled nailing one of out two free throws and then drove in again to cut the Rockets deficit to 10 points with 10:30 left. Clippers 92, Rockets 82
Brewer and J-Smoove teamed up to get this Rockets team back into the game — it was simply an inspiring set of unfolding events to watch as well!
It lifted the rest of the team and motivated them to play hard on both ends of the floor.
Amazingly, this all transpired while an ailing Harden, who’s still battling a bad cold, was on the bench.
I’m sure many were chastising Kevin McHale for leaving him on the bench but in these moments, it shows what good coaching is made of and it showed.
Brewer and J-Smoove drove, dunked, passed, rebounded, block everything you could think of…pulling all stops to save the Rockets season as the Rockets took a 105-102 lead with 3:42 left!
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They never game it up after that and closed out the game winning 117-109 after reeling off a 15-5 run from when each team was tied at 102-all with 4:21 left.
Don’t call a comeback! But for all intensive purposes, it was!
And a damn good one at that!
The Rockets ended up out-rebounding the Clippers 60-41 which certainly a key to beating them! They ended up shooting 42.5 percent from the field and a sizzling 40.6 percent from behind-the-arc!
Harden led all scorers with 23 points and also going 11-for-11 at the charity stripe.
Howard had 20/21 on the night.
J-Smoove was the man of the night and if he hadn’t come alive, the outcome of this game would’ve been different.
This guy only had five points through three quarters but his 14 4th-quarter points were forever be heralded as one of his best performances as a member of the Houston Rockets thus far!
J-Smoove ended up with 19 points and Brew had 19 points — the first two off the bench came through for the Rockets as we live to see another game of the playoffs.
TJones also threw in 16 points!
It’s important to note that the Rockets wouldn’t have won this game if it weren’t for the heroics of not only J-Smoove but Brew as well, that’s why Morey went out and got these guys!
He knew how valuable they’d be and it’s showing!
Paul ended up 31 points/11 assists for the Clippers and Griffin had 28/8.
We’re back into this series — let’s take it for good as the Rockets have all the momentum they need now!
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The Rockets take on the Clippers Sunday at Toyota Center for Game 7.
The tip-off, television and broadcast information is yet to be determined.
You see, we shocked the NBA scheduling gods so much, they don’t even know where to put us Sunday! Yeah!
But whatever time it is — we will be ready to give it all we have with high-charged home crowd behind this team!
Until then, go Rockets!