Offense, offense, and more offense.

It had been an offensive showdown between the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets in the first two games, and that trend continued in Game 3.

Led by Austin Rivers and J.J. Redick, the Clippers demolished Rockets en route to a blowout 124-99 victory, taking a 2-1 series lead.

Redick had been quiet throughout the entire playoffs, but he exploded tonight, scoring a playoff career-high 31 points on 11 of 14 shooting from the field, including 5 of 6 from three-point distance. He got the Clippers off to a fast start, reminiscent of what he used to do during the regular season. Redick scored 11 first quarter points, and the Clippers owned a nine-point lead.

Chris Paul made his return after missing the first two games due to a hamstring strain. He made his presence felt early, playing the pick and roll to perfection with Blake Griffin. Once Griffin was getting easy, wide open dunks, Paul used him as decoy to start finding his own offense.

Houston’s atrocious defense was evident again in the first half, allowing 66 points to the Clippers after allowing 65 in Game 2. The pace of the game was extremely fast, as both teams were going up and down the floor like it was a horse race.

Even though the defense was inadequate, the Rockets were still hanging into the ball game until the final four-plus minutes of the third quarter. With the Clippers up 79-73, the Austin Rivers explosion took place.

The coach’s son went off for 15 points on 6 of 8 shooting in a matter of four minutes and seven seconds to lead an 18-0 Clippers charge to close out the third.

“It was fun. I had so much fun out there,” Austin Rivers said.

That run extended to 23-0 in the early stages of the final period, and that’s all she ever wrote. The Clippers cruised to victory the rest of the way, leading by as many as 32 points.

“We did not do a good job of handling the pressure. Just let go of the rope, and they piled on us,” Houston’s coach Kevin McHale said of the Clippers’ third quarter explosion.

Rivers finished the game with a playoff career-high 25 points and six rebounds on 10 of 13 shooting from the field.

“It started with his defense and rebounding, honestly, and that got him into the game,” coach Doc Rivers said of his son. “But it was important really because it allowed us to keep CP at the minutes. That was huge for us.”

Paul logged 23 minutes in his return and scored 12 points while dishing out seven assists. He didn’t have to do much, but his leadership and playing making was crucial. It allowed Blake Griffin to focus on his scoring rather than having to do it all for the team. Griffin, however, was quiet throughout the game, despite putting in 22 points, 14 rebounds, and four assists. He had seven turnovers and did not make a huge impact on the contest like he did in the first two games.

Though, a big night from Griffin was not needed since the role players got the job done. Jamal Crawford added 12 points and six steals off the pine, while DeAndre Jordan compiled 15 rebounds and pushed in six points.

After a fourth quarter explosion in Game 2, James Harden had yet another quiet game. He notched a double-double of 25 points and 11 assists, but he wasn’t aggressive enough. He only went to the line five times, which smells trouble for the Rockets since Harden usually lives at the line due to his aggressive play.

“Just too passive, just too passive,” Harden said of his performance tonight.

Dwight Howard, who was the most consistent player for the Rockets through two games, was held to just 14 points. Trevor Ariza, Houston’s other constant in this series, also struggled to score, adding only 10 points on 3 of 9 shooting. However, he was expending most of his energy on defense, trying to contain Paul and also had the assignment of defending Griffin when the Rockets went small.

Going back to the Rockets’ appalling defense, Houston allowed Los Angeles to shoot 55.4 percent from the field and were out-rebounded, 50-43. On the offensive end, they shot just 39.8 percent from the floor and 58.1 percent from the foul line.

As a side note, Jason Terry was ejected from this game at the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter for deliberately shoving Blake Griffin from behind. Terry apologized for his wrongdoing after the contest, but the league may take a closer look at that play to determine if further punishment is required, which could be costly to the Rockets.

Game 4 will be on Sunday, May 10th, at 8:30 pm EST at the STAPLES Center.