Defense fails test, takes big step back
Redick, Paul, Jordan exploit holes to score at will in telling mismatch
J.J. Redick dashed around the same, familiar screens. Chris Paul ranthe same pick-and-rolls. DeAndre Jordan took off the same rim runs. The Rockets had seen it all somany times before, froma seven-gameplayoff series last spring to all the meetings beforeand since.
Yet, theywere powerless to stop all of it. They believed they had turned a corner and their defense was ready for a test. Theywere ready to pickup momentum for a stretch run, to take their improvements out for a spin to seewhat they could do.
Then the Los Angeles Clippers did what they always do, andthe Rockets were exposed, entirely incapable of stopping the onslaught until those signs of improvement were as obliterated as theywere in a 122-106 pounding Wednesday night at Toyota Center.
Fromthe opening tip, when Redick scored 14 points in 6½ minutes to set an immediate tone throughthe rest of the half in which Paul set up Jordan above the rim for six dunks and15 first-half points, the Clippers toyed with the Rockets’ defense.
The Rockets did make their usual run. Trailing by 24 points in the fourth quarter, James Harden and Trevor Ariza started hitting 3-pointers, and the Rockets strung
Together a few stops. When Jason Terry found Montrezl Harrell for a slam, the Rockets had closed to within 11 points with4½ minutes remaining.
Onthe next possession, however, the Clippers came up with the offensive rebound on a Paul miss and worked more clock before Re dick cut around another screen to nail a 3-pointer, his first since his first-quarter run, to push the lead backto 14.
Moments later, Harden turned the ball over, andthe Clippers ended the game the way it started, scoring on nearly every possession. When they were through, Re dick had 25 points, Jordan 23 and Paul 15 to go with 16 assists.
Harden leads way with 33
Harden led the Rockets with 33 points, with Michael Beasley adding 16 offthe bench. But the Rockets’ issues were on the other end of the floor and unrelenting.
The damage was done when the Clip per store through the Rockets’ defense to build the lead in the first place.
The Rockets hadbeen showing signs of repairing their season-long defensive shortcomings. In March, they’ve been third in the NBA indefensive rating. Then the Clippers put ona clinic, torching the Rockets one way after another.
When the Rockets tried to sit back to protect the lane, having Ariza chase Redick, Redick lit the mup.
When they tried to overplay the passing lanes to take away those good looks, the Clippers moved without the ball to lay ups and dunks.
When the Rockets tried their defensive plan since the All-Star break in which they have sent big men help on ball handlers, rotating to cut off the rolls to the rim, Paul simply forced them to switches and destroyed them. Jordan timed his run to the rim for when Paul was ready to set him up as if theywere performing in adunk contest.
Even intentionally fouling Jordan got the Rockets nowhere. He made three of six free throws in the first half. By the time the Rockets called it offin the second half, hewas 7 of 13 from the line.
By halftime, the Clippers hadmade 64.3 percent of their shots and 55.6 percent of their 3s, leading 72-50 in their top-scoring half andthe topscoring half against the Rockets this season. But the Rockets issues were not just their inability to slow the Clippers in the halfcourt. Theywere outmatched in the open court aswell.
The Clippers turned the Rockets’ 10 first-half turnovers into 19 points. Even when the Rockets seemed to defend effectively, the Clippers patiently moved the ball to hit three 3-pointers in the first half as the shot-clock buzzer sounded.
By the second half, when the Rockets def ended with desperation, they mostly just fouled. When the Clip- pers ended the quarter with another flurry, they took a 22-point lead into the fourth quarter. False hope for crowd
The Rockets made their obligatory run, as they have throughout the season, including in the previous meeting with the Clippers.
But that did little beyond give the crowd to call for defense with a chant finally without irony and force Paul and Jordan to get all sweaty onemore time.