HOUSTON – James Harden scored 32 points and the Rockets rallied from a 13-point deficit to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 115-109 in game two of their best-of-seven series on Wednesday.
For the second consecutive game, the Clippers played without superstar point guard Chris Paul who sat out both games in Houston with a lingering left hamstring injury. Paul turned 30 years old on Wednesday and celebrated by watching his team collapse down the stretch.
Harden was tired of hearing how the Los Angeles Clippers were "Harden Stoppers," so the runner up for the MVP decided to play the hero in game two. Harden dominated the fourth quarter scoring 16 points down the stretch, finishing with seven assists, three three-pointers and a perfect 15-for-15 from the free throw line.
"I knew my team was battling extremely hard and basically it was up to me to go out there and push us forward," said Harden.
The back-and-forth battle saw the Rockets jump out to an early first quarter lead 35-24, but Blake Griffin took over as the Clippers scored 41 points in the second quarter and went into the break with a 65-56 lead.
Griffin had 34 points, 14 rebounds and four assists to lead the Clippers.
"It definitely feels like we let one get away," insisted Griffin. "We came here to win two. But we've to protect home court now. We can't hang our heads."
The Rockets to a 90-88 lead with 10 minutes left in the game and never looked back as they rode a 20-to-4 run in the fourth quarter to claim the game from the Clippers.
"We let Game 1 slip away and we didn't want that feeling for Game 2," continued Harden. "It's going to be a tough two games in a row, but we've got our mojo now."
The Rockets bounced back from a terrible game one and finished with six players in double-figures. Trevor Ariza had 15 points and 13 rebounds, Terrence Jones and Jason Terry had 10 apiece and Corey Brewer scored 11 off the bench.
The Rockets attempted an unheralded 64 free throws throughout the game a franchise record and NBA playoff record.
"You're not going to win many games when the other team shoots 64 free throws and makes more than we even attempted," said Griffin of the free-throw disparagement.
21 of those free throws were shot by Rockets center Dwight Howard. Howard a career 57 percent free throw shooter is shooting just 46 percent from the line in the playoffs. Howard had 24 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.
DeAndre Jordan, a Houston native finished the game with 16 points and 12 rebounds. J.J. Redick scored 12, Jamal Crawford had 19 off the bench, and Austin Rivers scored 10 in Paul's place.
Game Notes:
Between the third and fourth quarters, one of the shot clocks stopped working and the teams played the firs few minutes of the fourth quarter with the PA announcer yelling out when the shot clock was down to 10 seconds.
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