The second seeded Houston Rockets looked extremely impressive over the seventh seeded Dallas Mavericks in the first round. Houston won the series by a 4-1 margin, with their only loss coming in Game Four on the road. It was the Rockets’ first playoff series win since 2009. In Tuesday night’s 103-94 series clinching victory, MVP Candidate James Harden scored 28 points and handed out eight assists. Josh Smith continued his strong play off the bench with 20 points and eight rebounds in just 22 minutes of action. Free throws continue to be a point of concern for Houston, after shooting 19 for 36 in Game Five.
The third seeded Los Angeles Clippers are coming off an epic seven game series win over the defending champion San Antonio Spurs. The Clippers faced 2-1 and 3-2 series deficits and won in both occasions on the road in the series. In Saturday night’s 111-109 Game Seven victory, Chris Paul hit a running bank shot with one second remaining to win the game. Blake Griffin recorded his second triple-double of the series with 24 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists.
In a game hardly anybody picked the Clippers to win with Paul sitting due to a left hamstring injury, L.A. stunned the Houston Rockets and their home crowd 117-101 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals Monday.
Griffin led the way with 26 points, 14 rebounds and a career-high 13 assists, his second straight triple-double and third of the postseason. Things didn't start out well for the Clippers in the first half though, with Paul's replacement Austin Rivers struggling early - he turned the ball over on one possession, trying to go behind the back.
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