The Houston Rockets have not lost three games in a row all season, and they weren’t about to change that trend with their season on the line.
They beat the Clippers, 124-103, in Game 5 on Tuesday at Toyota Center, to avoid elimination in the teams’ second-round playoff series, which the Clippers lead 3-2.
The Clippers, who are trying to reach the Western Conference Finals for the first time in their 45-year history, were led by Blake Griffin, who had 30 points, though it took him 20 shots to get them. Griffin also had a game-high 16 rebounds.
Chris Paul had 22 points and 11 assists & DeAndre Jordan had 13 points and 11 rebounds. The Rockets will now face an elimination Game 6 in Los Angeles on Thursday.
In another game, Lebron James scored 38 points, Kyrie Irving added 25 points to help their side Cleveland Cavaliers fend off their opponents, the Chicago bulls in the fourth quarter of game 5 for a 106 – 101 victory on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their testy Eastern Conference semifinal.
Lebron James played against the Chicago bulls with a sprained left ankle but he did not show pain at all, he added 12 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks.
Cleveland can wrap up the best-of-seven series and advance to the conference finals for the first time since 2009 with a win in Game 6 on Thursday night back at United Center in Chicago, where the teams exchanged buzzer-beating victories last weekend.
The drama wasn’t quite as high in Game 5, but it was close and it was intense.