Should be 2-0, should not have let Blake Griffin look THAT good for that long. If they would have started off playing him like they did in the 2nd half we have a good shot at being up 2-0
My only hope is that the Rockets maybe take the Clippers more seriously with CP3, so we'll see a more sustained effort by the Rockets. But yeah adding a top 5 player in the league is obviously going to help the Clippers.
cp3 won't be playing game 3. They will gamble 1 more game of no cp3 due to stealing one in Houston. Hamstring injuries are not a joke and require at least a minimum of 2 weeks, 3 weeks is more ideal. Doesn't matter how much physio you get. If he plays game 3 I guarantee he will aggravate the injury again due to pg's needing a variety of changes in speed this would more than likely finish him for the series and the playoffs.
^ The more I think about it, the more you make sense. It took a lot to go right for us to even win game 2, the Clips have to be feeling confident about a healthier CP3-led team. Game 4 it is.
Rivers and Crawford were very ineffective game 2. They NEED CP3 for game 3. I don't think CP3 makes them better by leaps and bounds since Griffin runs the offense well, and that was a wrinkle I don't believe we were prepared for. Definitely not looking forward to seeing CP3, but I don't think he's going to tip the scales greatly to LA as we seem to be able to contain him
hmmmm it's different playing almost on adrenaline and raw emotion when you're injured during a game than coming into a game with an injury that you've been trying to rehab all week.
Griffin's the best player in the playoffs. That's over the 9 games he's played. He got some additional experience running the offense in our two games. He and Paul together will be formidable. That said, In our two wins in the regular season against the Clips, one with and one without Griffin, Paul didn't have exorbitant +/- numbers. One game he was a couple points + and one game he was actually a couple points -. Both were still close games. Jordan had around 20 rebounds in both those games and we still gutted them out with no Dwight. Rockets looked tighter last night, so I'd say if the Rockets have the taste for blood now, they have a chance even with Paul. I still don't know what caused Griffin to go from beast mode to just there between the first and second halves last night. I don't know if he did something different or if we did, but whatever it was, it needs to be forced by us to happen from the beginning of all subsequent games.
The team that runs the offense through Griffin and has CP3 instead of Rivers out there. Aldrige, Griffin...the achilles heel of the Rockets. 28 points in a half?
Ball dominant point guards, man... CP3 is a top 5 player in the league but for whatever reason ball dominators can stifle an offense without anyone realizing it. They hold the entire team hostage. There's a reason Isiah and Magic were the last ball dominating PG's to win titles. As good as Paul is, when you mix a player like that with a talented team you get to the point of diminishing returns. Remember, he kept a Griffin-less team afloat all by himself. Yet when they're all together... it all hits a ceiling. It's a strange basketball phenomenon that only exists in the NBA. Not college. Not Europe. Just the NBA.
