The Los Angeles Lakers’ twin seven-foot towers combined for an incredible 38 rebounds for their seventh straight win, a 99-95 overtime victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night to pit them against the San Antonio Spurs. Chris Paul’s 11 assists led the Los Angeles Clippers to their sixth straight win to give them home court advantage against the Grizzlies, who have rarely loss in Memphis. Here are all the playoff match-ups:
| Seed | Eastern Home | W | L | Lower Seed | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miami | 66 | 16 | Milwaukee | 38 | 44 |
| 2 | New York | 54 | 28 | Boston | 41 | 40 |
| 3 | Indiana | 49 | 32 | Atlanta | 44 | 38 |
| 4 | Brooklyn | 49 | 33 | Chicago | 45 | 37 |
| Seed | Western Home | W | L | Lower Seed | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City | 60 | 22 | Houston | 45 | 37 |
| 2 | San Antonio | 58 | 24 | L.A. Lakers | 45 | 37 |
| 3 | Denver | 57 | 25 | Golden State | 47 | 35 |
| 4 | L.A. Clippers | 56 | 26 | Memphis | 56 | 26 |
Both Los Angeles teams dramatically increased their chances of an opening round win.
The Lakers and Rockets knew the winner could get the 2-seed Spurs while the loser would have to play the 1-seed Oklahoma City Thunder. The Kobe-less Lakers did have trouble with the Rockets great backcourt, as Jeremy Lin had eight assists and James Hardin scored 30 points.
The Rockets also held the Lakers without a field goal for the final four minutes of regulation, enabling Chandler Parsons to score three of his 23 points on a buzzer beater to send the game into overtime.
However, Dwight Howard (16 points, 18 rebounds, 4 blocks) and Pau Gasol (17, 20 and 11 assists) were walls on defense, and Steve Blake had a career-high 24 points. The Lakers pushed the Spurs when they defeated them on Sunday.
While the Lakers playing in L.A., the Clippers were in Sacramento, where they needed to win to not give the Grizzlies home court advantage. Blake Griffin hurt his back and could only score seven points, but the other star, Chris Paul, put up 25 points and 11 assists to give the Clippers home court advantage.
Ironically, both the Grizzlies and the Clippers finished 32-9 at home and 22-17 on the road, so the Clippers getting the crucial home advantage for the series could be the difference.
For the AP rundown of the playoffs and the two Los Angeles games, click here.
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