Dwight Howard really let his team down in this one. He picked up two quick fouls (it’s about time) and sat on the bench for most the first quarter. That’s when Houston started intentionally fouling DeAndre Jordan. My-oh-my did they foul him.

The first six minutes were relatively low scoring, then with the clock stopped during free throw shooting, it picked up. The Rockets led 33-30 after one, but they had several guys with early foul trouble.

Howard quickly picked up another foul in the 2nd. Back to Hack-A-DJ. Jordan would go on to attempt more first half free throws than anyone EVER has. He seemed unfazed, and Doc did, too. They let the fouls pile up (including on some starters), as it was awfully soon for this.

The Clippers maintained their pace with another 30 frame. Houston only managed 21 to trail by six at halftime. You could still feel the energy from game three, and I sensed it was only a matter of seizing.

Los Angeles banged out to begin the 3rd quarter. Behind killer defense and swift ball movement, the lead started to reach double-digits. And it was the same story with their big man: a fourth foul on Howard, but he stayed in the game. This allowed Jordan to finish several alley-oops uncontested. We finally seized momentum to catapult ahead by more than fifteen.

We stayed focused into the 4th, pulling away relatively smoothly by twenty plus. Howard and company came unglued, losing their cool on a couple technicals. Dwight earned his final foul, then picked up a 2nd technical for good measure to get himself ejected. SO classy.

The extra mission by our bench allowed Paul to rest himself down the stretch. He still dished out over ten assists. Jordan led the team in scoring and rebounding, looking relieved every time he just got to play basketball.

Hack-A-Shaq is not fun to watch, especially for the outsider. Thankfully, Doc didn’t participate this time.