ClutchFans Game Thread: Clippers @ Rockets 5/4/2015 (Playoffs Round 2, Game 1)

If we beat the Clippers, will it be "They got lucky Cp3 was injured" excuse to invalidate our success?

Already heard people discounting our win vs Dallas as "it's Dallas"

 

When box scores are read 20 years later, none of that matters, only who won the game.

To this day many still discount our 2 titles because Michael wasn't playing. But A) They cannot take those rings away and B) Every other team had the same opportunity those years, but only we did it.

 

Let them. When we beat the Warriors and Cavs, I want to see what excuse they make.

 

Of course. Just like we use the excuse of "Clippers won 2 games in regular season against us because Dwight is not playing in all 4 meetings"

 

We should win this series , When Dwight is healthy hes one of the best bigs if not the best after Duncan/Shaq , people tend to over look that He'll set the tone of the series and dominate

 

The key for us is to not turn the ball over so much. One of the reason the Clippers have killed us in the past is because they score off of our turnovers. Up until Game 5, we actually did a decent job of not turning the ball over in the Dallas series.

 

CP3 injured or half fit and the CLippers coming off a late Saturday night game 7 with little rest and beaten up.

I expect nothing less than a Rockets blowout win at HOME. Rockets better win by 15+ or I will not be impressed.

 

CP Injury aside we should be able to handle the Clips easily.

Terry <<< CP3
Harden>>>>Reddick
Ariza >> Barnes
TJ<<<<<< Blake
Howard >>>> DJ

Bench

Prigs >>>Rivers
Brewer = Crawford
Josh SMith >>>> Big Baby

When you add in the fact that we have HCA and rest while the Clips are beaten up after 7 tough games, I see Rockets winning in 5

 

the clippers had homecourt againist the spurs right

 

Although I still believe we have a depth advantage over the Clippers, I don't think it's as big as some of you guys are saying. IF we had DMo and Bev, that's two more legit NBA playoff rotation players we'd have. But that's not the case. Our best 6 players are going to have to outplay the Clippers' 6 best players for us to win this series. The 7-9 guys will help but won't decide this series.

Paul -------- Harden
Griffin ------ Howard

Jordan ------ Smith
Redick ------ Ariza
Barnes ------ Jones
Crawford ---- Brewer
Rivers ------- Terry/Prigs
Davis -------- Capela

- Harden needs to outplay CP3. They won't be going head to head but they will be running their respective offenses. CP3 is an all-time great PG coming off of a career defining Game 7 playoff performance, but I still think 2015 Harden is better than 2015 Paul. And the Rockets will need Harden to be the best perimeter player on the floor in this series

- Howard needs to thoroughly outplay Jordan. This is going to be fun to watch, two monsters just battling for every rebound and throwing down vicious jams. DeAndre is a very good player but Howard is basically a better version, and we'll need Howard to decisively win this battle to advance

- Redick/Crawford vs. Ariza/Brewer will be important. Not necessarily guarding each other, but these players will be counted on for big mins as wing players in this series. Ariza/Brewer don't need to match Redick/Crawford in terms of 3P shooting, but they'll need to stay in the same neighborhood of 3P%. If Ariza/Brewer can come close to matching Redick/Crawford as shooters, they'll be so valuable because they bring a lot more to the table than shooting unlike the Clips duo

- Josh Smith and Terrence Jones will need to bring it offensively if they can't stop Blake on D. The Griffin vs HOU PF matchup is the one thing that really scares me about this series. But if Josh and Jones can do their own damage on the other end, it will help lessen Griffin's impact. Hopefully our boys do a better than expected job defending Blake

I'm excited about this series. Harden/Howard might never have a better chance at winning a title than this, let's go out there and beat the Clips down. I think the Clippers' superior starting 5 and PG/PF edge will be tough to overcome, but I think the Rockets will win this series in 7.

 

I feel like our odds go from 53% to 20% if we lose this Game 1.

- we have HCA
- we have a ton of rest
- Clips are coming off a brutal 7 game series vs. the Spurs with only 1 day of rest

We need this. Hopefully Harden starts this series off with a bang.

 

This means nothing, on paper the Mavs were supposed to he the best starting five look how that turned out.

 

This is as favorable a condition as the Rockets can really hope for. CP injury, 7 game series vs. the Spurs, and only 1 day rest before facing Houston with the Clips already short on depth. If the Rockets don't beat the Clips under these conditions, they just aren't good enough to be a contender.

With CP hobbled, it would have been nice to have a player who can exploit CP's lack of mobility at the moment by taking him off the dribble. Too bad Houston's PGs don't have that dimension, so CP gets to rest his hamstrings on defense whenever he get on the court.

 

Dwight is the X factor. Huge Dwight Rockets in 7.

It will be a war any which way it turns.

 

Not if we close games with Brewer.

 

A key for us to win=Stay away from foul trouble.

Simple as that.

 

Or maybe the key is to get THEM in foul trouble, especially their bigs. Griffin and Jordan is all they have. Hawes, Big Baby are not going to be able to keep up with the AAU team.

 

The MVP chants should be especially loud tomorrow night. Can't wait.

 

I like that. :grin:

 

1. Brewer may close the game, but the Rocket's still can't go without a PG for most of the game. We need Brewer for the wing minutes.

2. Even with a Harden/Brewer/Ariza/Jones(or Smith/Howard lineup, CP will still get to chill quite a bit. Just have him on Ariza, who is not really a post-player and isn't a big threat off the dribble. Brewer also mostly makes defenders work in transition and isn't a big threat in the half-court to make his defender labor.