The Los Angeles Clippers are one win away from their first trip to the Western Conference Finals in franchise history after beating the Houston Rockets, 128-95, in Game 4 on Sunday night. DeAndre Jordan recorded 26 points and 17 rebounds and five other players scored at least 12 points as Los Angeles extended its series lead to 3-1.
Rockets vs. Clippers 2015 results: Los Angeles dominates to take 3-1 series lead
The Rockets are running out of answers for an impressive Clippers team.
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This wasn’t the most graceful or exciting game, mired by the constant hacking of Jordan by the Rockets, but Los Angeles used a big third-quarter run to pull away. For the second straight game, the Rockets found themselves trying to rally from a big deficit, and once again they couldn’t muster it.
Jordan's absurd free throw numbers will be one of the big stories from the game, but the 26-year-old also stepped up with a strong performance in the post. Jordan's point and rebound totals were both game highs, and Houston had few answers once Dwight Howard got into foul trouble early on.
The Rockets finally moved away from the hacking Jordan strategy in the third quarter, but that gave way to absolute dominance from L.A. The Clippers started the third quarter on a 29-7 run, and by the time it was over, the game was effectively out of reach. Howard recorded his fifth foul with 3:07 left in the third quarter, and at that point, it felt like both teams were just playing out the string. Howard fouled out with 9:52 left in regulation.
Chris Paul showed he's getting back into form, recording 15 points and 12 assists in 26 minutes, and reserves J.J. Redick and Austin Rivers also continued their strong contributions after leading in Game 3. The two sharpshooting guards combined for 30 points on 10-of-19 shooting, giving Los Angeles secondary scoring that its opponent lacked. The Rockets got just 23 points on 8-of-26 shooting from their bench in the game, much of it coming in garbage time.
Now the series heads back to Houston with the Clippers holding a definitive lead in the series, and the Rockets will need to win three straight if they want to keep their season alive. The hacking strategy didn't work in Game 4, and now coach Kevin McHale and the Rockets will need to take a different approach if they want to get back into the series.
3 things we learned
1. Hack-A-Jordan isn’t going away
The fact that the Rockets continued using their hacking strategy on Jordan was not surprising. It was startling, however, to watch Jordan take 28 free throw attempts in the first half of the game. While things toned down in the second half, where he took just six free throws, this feels like another strong reminder of how the Hack-a-Whoever strategy derails opportunities for fluid and exciting basketball.
Jordan made just 14 of his 34 overall free throws in the game, and while the Clippers won, this wasn't exactly what everyone envisions when it comes to two talented teams battling it out. Clint Capela and Kostas Papanikolaou committed a combined eight fouls in their first three minutes of playing time. The TNT crew debated the rules during the game, and that discussion will likely continue as long as teams keep hacking away.
2. Houston’s defense has no answers
There’s a reason the Rockets turned to Hack-a-Jordan in Game 4, and that’s because the team hasn’t figured out another way to stop the Clippers’ offense. The combination of Griffin and Jordan in the post with Paul, Redick, Rivers and Crawford on the perimeter has been unstoppable, and through four games Houston looks as lost as it did entering the series.
Even in the Rockets' lone win, they gave up 109 points, and overall they're allowing nearly 120 points per game in the series. After showing huge improvement defensively during the regular season and shutting the Dallas Mavericks down in the first round, this looks nothing like the Houston defense we were getting used to. Right now, the Clippers' offense is running on all cylinders.
3. Clippers’ surprising bench success continues
Houston backups Josh Smith and Corey Brewer were big stories in the first round, but it's been the Clippers' bench stepping up in this series. Rivers, Jamal Crawford, Spencer Hawes and Glen Davis have surpassed expectations with strong contributions off the bench, and they're a big part of why Los Angeles has looked so dangerous recently. Crawford -- a two-time Sixth Man of the Year -- has long been one of the game's best bench scorers, but the emergence of Rivers has been nothing short of incredible. After taking a lot of heat during the regular season, Rivers has averaged 16 points on 56 percent in this series, making good on his father's continued confidence in him.
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