The Los Angeles Clippers, barely 48 hours removed from their epic Game 7 win against the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, faced the Houston Rockets without the hero of their last game, but Blake Griffin stepped up with his third triple-double of the postseason, as the Clips caught a flat Rockets to steal home court in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal matchup.

The Rockets should not be expected to come out at home in Game 2 with the same lackluster effort they displayed in the series opener, and Clippers coach Doc Rivers still pegged the chances of his star point guard Chris Paul playing at 50/50.

But whatever happens with Paul, this should serve as a big test for both teams. A Rockets win would get them right back into it, but another Clipper win would immediately take Houston in the deep water for the first time this postseason.

"I hope it doesn't make them let their guard down," Rivers said of his boys' Game 1 win. "I don't know what it does. It just tells you that you won a game. I don't try to go much past that. We won one game, and we won a game without Chris, and that's great, but we just won a game."

Griffin, who has been playing otherworldly, agrees. "We try to keep the exact same edge. We haven't accomplished anything yet. We won the first game last series and went to seven games. I don't think we'll be complacent at all. We shouldn't be. I know they're going to come out and play extremely hard. They might change some things up, but we have to come out with the same mindset we came out with in Game 1."

James Harden should be expected to come our much more aggressive than he did the previous game. Harden score a pedestrian (for him) 20 points. And while he did have 12 assists, the Rockets need him to set the tone early against a Clippers team that's been playing its best basketball.

Game 2 is scheduled for Wednesday, May 6, with tip-off slated for 6:30 pm PT, you can catch the action via live stream here.