HOUSTON (Sporting Alert) — The Houston Rockets jumped all over the Los Angeles Clippers in the opening minutes on their way to take a 56-46 lead at halftime in Game 7 over the Eastern Conference semi-finals at the Toyota Center, here in Houston.
Star players James Harden and Dwight Howard both scored 12 points in the opening 48 minutes of the game.
Howard goes into the break with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while Harden has 12 points five assists, three rebounds and two steals to help lead the way for Houston, which seeks its third successive win in this series.
Blake Griffin is the leading contributor so far for the Los Angeles Clippers with 12 points six rebounds and four assists.
Chris Paul, who is 4-of-9 from the field has 10 points, while Jamal Crawford also has 10. The latter is once again struggling from the floor — going 3-of-10 from the field.
The Clippers went 4-of-14 on 28.6 percent from three-point range, while going 19-of-50 on 38 percent.
The Rockets, at the same time, went 21-for-44 from the field for 47.7 percent, but were 6-of-17 from behind the arc as both teams struggles to knock down shots from long range in the first half.
Houston went up by as many as 15 points in the opening half, but the LA Clippers are battling to save their season.
