That is all from Los Angeles. Rockets force game 7 with a 119-107 win
FINAL: Griffin with 28 and 8, Paul with 31 points and 11 Assists. Brewer, Howard, Harden and Smith all score between 19-23 for Rockets tonight. Brewer and Smith take over in the fourth with Harden on the bench.
Bench Factor: Brewer with 19 points for Houston, Crawford with 9 for the Clippers but only shot 4-13 from the floor.
Smith scores 14 in the fourth to lead Rockets to historic comeback victory.
Josh Smith "Reslience. I got in the game, I wanted to continue to bring the energy...not wanting to go home this early...put the pressure back on them for game 7...[Rockets] you know, theylet me play my game."
FINAL: Rockets - 119 Clippers - 107
(4th Quarter 53.0): Rockets go back to the line and this one is in the books. Game 7 will be in Houston
(4th Quarter 56.1): Paul misses the 10-foot shot, looks like its over
(4th Quarter 1:25): Smith with another deep ball, Rockets lead by 10
(4th Quarter 2:22): Terry sticks a mid-range jumper and the Rockets take a 5 point lead while the Clippers take a timeout
(4th Quarter 3:39): Brewer hits from the corner! Rockets up by 3
(4th Quarter 3:58): Rockets tie it at 102 with a Corey Brewer reverse dunk! Timeout Houston
(4th Quarter 5:57): Clippers lead, once as high as 18, is down to just 5 at 102-97
(4th Quarter 6:02): Smith hits another 3 and Clippers call timeout
(4th Quarter 6:55): Josh Smith hits a 3 but Paul answers with a drive, Clippers lead 102-94
(4th Quarter 7:26): Brewer has 9 of the last 12 points for Houston
(4th Quarter 7:38): Rivers with the And1 drive, his team leads 100-88
(4th Quarter 8:17): Reddick drains a three, Clippers lead by 12
(4th Quarter 9:46): Ariza bhits a 3 and cuts the lead to 9
(3rd Quarter 0:00): Chris Paul with 22 points and 11 assists heading into the final frame
(3rd Quarter 0:00): Rockets end on a 9-2 run but the Clippers outscore them 28-17 in the quarter and lead 92-79
(3rd Quarter 1:37): Griffin with a huge block on the Rockets fast break, who are struggling and have missed their last 9 from deep
(3rd Quarter 2:34): Paul slices right down the middle for the bucket, Clippers lead 88-70
(3rd Quarter 4:09): Griffin hits a wild circus shot on the brea, Clippers lead 86-68
(3rd Quarter 4:54): Paul hits an 18 footer and his team leads by 13
(3rd Quarter 5:27): Hectic back-adn-forth play. Reddick misses a three, on other end, Howard and Griffin have a "scuffle"
(3rd Quarter 8:09): Griffin is now 11-14 from the floor after hitting a 16 foot jumper
(3rd Quarter 8:51): Howard scores inside, his team trails 72-66.
(3rd Quarter 10:27): Harden scores from baseline and cuts lead to 71-64
(3rd Quarter 10:57): Refs are reviewing a hard foul from Dwight Howard to see if it was flagrant
(3rd Quarter 10:57): Jordan rejects Howard and Griffin gets the easy bucket on the other end
2nd Half is Underway! Reddick hits a 3-ball
HALF: Harden shoots 4-13 from the floor but hits 11-11 from the charity stripe
HALF: Rockets shooting 38 percent from deep, 21 percent for Clippers
HALF: Griffin with 22, Harden with 21 so far in this game. Not a ton of defense in the first half, both teams shoot hot and get plenty of layups.
(2nd Quarter 0:00): A back-and-forth second quarter comes to a close. Clippers lead 64-62
(2nd Quarter 20.4): Jones with the strong move to the hoop, ties it at 62
(2nd Quarter 1:53): Reddick hits a 3 and his team takes a two-point lead
(2nd Quarter 2:25): Griffin works in the high post and gets a dunk, foul on terry but no call, Clippers trail 58-57
(2nd Quarter 2:49): McHale calls time and Rockets lead 56-53
(2nd Quarter 4:03): Griffin drains a 3 and then on next possession, drives it to the hoop for a layup.
(2nd Quarter 4:48): Capela finishes the lob and Rockets lead 52-47
(2nd Quarter 5:57): Paul with the jab step and hits the And1 jumper, can tie the game with the free throw
(2nd Quarter 7:04): Terry finds Harden for three and we are knotted up at 41
(2nd Quarter 7:44): Crawford hits the floater in the lane, Clippers lead 41-38
(2nd Quarter 9:36): Clippers lead 35-30 after Rivers steals and finishes
(2nd Quarter 10:08): Paul feeds Crawford for the fast break layup
(2nd Quarter 11:21): Ariza drops a corner three and the Clippers lead is down to just one
(1st Quarter 0:00): Clippers control pace of game but only lead 29-25 at the end of one.
(1st Quarter 35.0): Terrence Jones grabs an offensive board, puts in back in and draws the foul. Rockets down 29-23 after the free throw
(1st Quarter 57.0): Paul gets the steal and hits an And1 layup on the other end
(1st Quarter 1:36): Ariza hits a 3, Paul gets a mid-range shot and Clippers lead by 6
(1st Quarter 2:36): Griffin answers a Houston hoop with an And1 driveo n the break, Clippers lead 22-15
(1st Quarter 3:45): Paul drops it behind him to Griffin for the big-time dunk!
(1st Quarter 5:12): Terry grabs the rebound and feeds Howard for a dunk, Rockets trail 16-10
(1st Quarter 5:46): Two fouls for Howard early on
(1st Quarter 5:53): Reddick misses the deep ball, Jordan rebounds and gets fouled as his team leads 14-8.
(1st Quarter 7:36): Griffin with the spin move and lays it in, Clippers lead 10-4
(1st Quarter 9:02): Griffin makes a move and finishes inside, followed by Barnes on the fast-break. Early timeout for Houston, as they trail 8-2
(1st Quarter 9:51): CP3 to Jordan for the slam
We are underway from Staples Center!
(10:41 PM EST): Will we see Hack-a-Jordan tonight? Hang tight to find out
(10:39 PM EST): Tip-Off is about 2 minutes away!
Tip-off for Rockets versus Clippers from the STAPLES Center will be at 10:30 PM EST. Stay with VAVEL USA for live updates and scores from this Game 6 matchup of the second round of the 2015 NBA Playoffs.
During and after the Game 5 win, McHale urged his team that playing aggressively was crucial. "Now we know how to play. Get out, attack, downhill," coach McHale said. That mentality certainly kept the Clippers on their toes, but Doc Rivers will have to figure out something to do about DeAndre Jordan's foul shooting. It seems there is no answer because, as the Rockets demonstrated in Game 2, the Clippers are soft on the inside when Jordan sits. During that game, after picking up two fouls in the first three minutes, the Rockets pounded the ball into Howard while Jordan was on the bench and took an early lead.
Here are full highlights from Game 5:
Houston and L.A. split their season series two games apiece, with the Rockets winning the last two. In their last regular season game, Trevor Ariza locked down Chris Paul and made it difficult for the floor general to see the floor to make plays. Houston hasn't gone to that strategy very much in this series, which is an interesting choice by head coach Kevin McHale. We will see how Houston tries to guard CP3 tonight, who has been battling injuries these playoffs, especially after his heroic game winner in Game 7 against San Antonio.
The Clippers and Rockets had identical 56-26 records during the season in a shifting Western Conference. The San Antonio Spurs, who went on a tear late in the season, slipped from second to sixth after a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans in their last game. The Rockets bounced between second and fifth the entire season but maintained a steady level of play, even while missing Howard for a majority of the year.
The Clippers big men have been tested somewhat by Dwight Howard, Terrence Jones, and Josh Smith but have mostly been able to find their offense. Jordan has been able to get open for his lobs and Griffin continues to put on a clinic in the postseason, displaying a jumper, slashing move, and low post, back-to-the-basket prowess. Smith, who came over from the Detroit Pistons in January, has been a good addition defensively and has been able to rack up some assists as well. Griffin and Jordan, however, can only be contained as opposed to shut down.
In a losing effort, Blake Griffin dropped 30 points in Game 5 and was relentlessly attacking the rim. Chris Paul met his season average with 10 assists, but the Clippers just couldn't get momentum. They got a once 20-point lead down to 13, but that was right before DeAndre Jordan started going to the line. He went 7 of 16 from the line, right on par with his 42 percent season average.
The common thread between Houston’s two wins (Game 2, Game 5) has been shot distribution. In both cases, four of their starters put up at least 10 shots, with Harden leading the way. In their losses, the shots get bunched up between their two star players, and the Clippers defense, which has been stingy in the postseason, can clamp down a bit easier.
After taking down the defending champs in what was easily the most exciting series of the opening round, they have battled with a fellow Texas team. The Rockets were down 3-1 on Tuesday but were able to extend the series thanks to an aggressive and relentless style of play. They also went with the "Hack-A-DeAndre" strategy which certainly paid off in the second half. Jordan's free-throw struggles allowed the Rockets to take command of the game in the fourth quarter. James Harden scored 26, while Dwight Howard had 20 and 10 in a 124-103 victory.
The Clippers have a chance to get one step closer to a goal they have been chasing since Chris Paul arrived several years ago: win a title. The team has been an elite regular season team the past four seasons but has not been able to get it done in the playoffs. Now, they are just one win away from their first Western Conference Finals appearance which could come against either the Memphis Grizzlies or Golden State Warriors.
Hello, everyone! Welcome to Game 6 between the Houston Rockets vs Los Angeles Clippers Live score from the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. I am Julian Rosen, your host for tonight's game.