James Harden scored 31 points, and Dwight Howard had 16 points and 15 rebounds as the Houston Rockets never trailed in a 113-100 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday, sending them to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 1997.
It was the ninth time in NBA history that a team has overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a playoff series.
The Rockets needed an epic comeback to overcome a 19-point third-quarter deficit and force Game 7. No such heroics were needed on Sunday when they were up by 17 after three and Howard opened the fourth quarter with a three-point play to push it to 88-68.
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Blake Griffin scored five points in a 9-0 run to cut the lead to eight points with 2 minutes, 30 seconds remaining. Harden made a pair of free throws after that, but a dunk by DeAndre Jordan got the Clippers within eight again. This time Trevor Ariza hit a three-pointer from the corner to secure the victory.
Griffin had 27 points, and Chris Paul had 26 points and 10 assists.
The Western Conference finals begin today at the Golden State Warriors’ Oracle Arena.
Ariza finished with 22 points and made six three-pointers.
Every fan in the arena was given a red shirt emblazoned with the words “Clutch City” in yellow letters, bringing back the moniker of the 1994 and 1995 teams that won back-to-back titles. These Rockets lived up to the nickname, winning their third straight game to become the first team to win a playoff series after trailing 3-1 since the Phoenix Suns did it in 2006 against the Los Angeles Lakers.
After taking a two-game lead after four games, the Clippers looked destined to be headed for the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. However, they failed in all three chances to put Houston away and are now left to ponder their collapse as they head home early yet again.
The Clippers never led, but tied it twice in the first four minutes. The Clippers on Saturday said that they had gotten over Thursday’s loss, but looked listless early as Houston built the lead.
Little went right for the Clippers for most of the game and when a dunk by Jordan early in the fourth quarter simply bounced out of the rim, the big man could only look at the basket in disgust. The frustration was evident with Paul too, as he angrily threw the ball after picking up an offensive foul later in the fourth.
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