Chris Paul was on fire and the LA Clippers torched their shell-shocked opponents.
Paul buried eight-of-nine triples en route to 32 points along with 10 assists, and the third-seeded Clippers roared to a 122-105 road victory over the second-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday in the opener of their Western Conference semi-final series.
“It’s just one of those nights,” said Paul, who shot 12-of-14 overall despite a hamstring strain and left thumb sprain. “This will definitely go down in the history books for me but don’t count on it in game two.”
This will definitely go down in the history books for me but don’t count on it in game two
“I think he felt he needed to set the tone,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “Tonight he looked great.”
Blake Griffin scored 23 points, Jamal Crawford added 17 off the bench for the Clippers, who shot a sizzling 54.9 per cent (45-of-82) from the field and 15-of-29 from behind the arc to grab home-court advantage away from the Thunder.
“That was the goal,” Griffin said. “We were really strong tonight. Mentally, we locked in and took care of it.”
Russell Westbrook netted 29 points, Kevin Durant added 25 for the Thunder, which suffered its worst post-season home loss since relocating from Seattle in 2008.
“We didn’t play well, we have to do a better job defensively,” Thunder Scott Brooks said. “They were on fire from the three-point line and Chris Paul had eight of them.”
Paul scored 17 points, including five triples in the opening quarter, sparking the Clippers to a 39-25 advantage.
“When someone has it going like that, you want to stay out of the way,” Griffin said of Paul. “That first quarter was crazy.”
The Clippers widened the gap to 24 en route to a 69-52 half time cushion.
After the Thunder pulled to within 71-56, Paul nailed another triple to ignite an 11-0 run and capped it by spotting J.J. Redick for a layup.
The Clippers carried a 104-78 bulge into the final frame and cruised home with the lopsided victory at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Oklahoma City hosts game two on Wednesday night.
Washington Wizards 102, Indiana Pacers 96
Bradley Beal scored 14 of his 25 points in the final quarter, Trevor Ariza hit all six 3's en route to 22 and the well-rested Wizards grabbed home-court advantage after beating the Pacers in the opener of their Eastern Conference semi-final play-off series.
The fifth-seeded Wizards had a five-day break after eliminating the Chicago Bulls in five games, while the struggling top-seeded Pacers needed Saturday's game seven victory over Atlanta to advance.
It showed, as the Wizards led for all but 15 seconds of the contest to snap a 12-game slide at Indiana with their first victory at Bankers Life Fieldhouse since April 18, 2007.
John Wall had 13 points and nine assists, Marcin Gortat had 12 points and 15 rebounds while Drew Gooden contributed 12 points and 13 boards off the bench for the Wizards, who improved to 4-0 on the road in the post-season.
Indiana hosts game two Wednesday in the best-of-seven series.
