Houston’s headed home for a surprise game 7 against Los Angeles
After enduring a blowout loss Tuesday night against, the Los Angeles Clippers were back home at Staples Center to potentially make their first ever trip to the Western Conference Finals. In the first half, James Harden and Blake Griffin were the standout players, scoring 20 points each – but the second half was an entirely different story. James Harden sat all but 1 minute of the fourth quarter, as he only scored 2 points in the entire second half.
With Dwight Howard obtaining a flagrant and technical foul in the game, it wasn’t enough to stop him from pouring in 21 points and 20 boards. After being down by as many as 19 points in the 3rd quarter, the Rockets would look to the help of Josh Smith and Corey Brewer to lead them in the nearly impossible rally.
Houston would soon go on a 49-18 run after the 2:34 minute mark in the 3rd quarter to continue their hot streak shooting and defensive stops into the quarter. As Los Angeles continued to struggle from the floor, missing 15 of their final 16 attempts, Smith and Brewer would combine for 29 of their team’s 40 points in the final period to pull off the biggest comeback of the post-season thus far. Although the 40-15 run in the 4th quarter was the story of the night, the Clippers had their lowest shooting quarter among any playoff team in the last 20 years, shooting an embarrassing 18 percent. Los Angeles now has until Sunday to rest and regroup for a win-or-go-home road game in Houston in 48 hours. With only 16 bench points contributed in Thursday’s game 6, Jamal Crawford going 4-13 from the floor cannot happen if they want to keep their season alive.