LOS ANGELES – Having seen what Blake Griffin can do to innocent rims far too often, Chris Paul was not about to let it happen again.
He had been caught in the low post against his former teammate, the Rockets barely hanging around with a longshot chance, when he gave Griffin a shove, setting off a chain reaction of Rockets anger and Clippers celebration as the first meeting of Paul with the team he had led for six years left the idea that it was just another game far behind.
Within minutes, Griffin and Lou Williams, the guard traded to Los Angeles to get Paul, finished off the Rockets, 113-102.