<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 18px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 16px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: #0000FF;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 16px;    text-decoration: none;}ul {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 16px;}ol {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px;    font-size: 16px;    border-left: 2px solid black;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 12px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;    background-color: #EFEFEF;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Chris-Paul-Ben-McLemore.jpg"><figcaption>OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 25:  LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on as he walks off the court against the Golden State Warriors during their NBA basketball game at ORACLE Arena on December 25, 2015 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.  (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><h1>Chris Paul defends below-the-belt shot on Ben McLemore</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2020-08-22T20:31:43-07:00">August 22nd, 8:31pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2020-08-22T20:31:43-07:00">August 22nd, 8:31pm</time><address><a>Paolo Songco</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Oklahoma City Thunder All-Star point guard Chris Paul was involved in a controversial moment during his team’s impressive 119-107 overtime victory against the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of their first-round playoffs matchup. Paul hit Rockets swingman Ben McLemore with a below-the-belt shot, which was seen by some as a dirty play.</p><p>After the game, Paul was asked to comment about the incident in question, to which he expressed the accidental nature of the low blow.</p><blockquote>“I tried to get by him. It was incidental,” Paul explained, via ESPN’s <a href="https://twitter.com/royceyoung/status/1297347590112116736">Royce Young</a>. “I know when I did it on purpose, that was in college. That was a long time ago. I checked on Ben, he said he was fine. I know Mike. He’s gonna get mad, he’s gonna yell and scream.”</blockquote><p>To be fair to Paul, he did admit to doing the same act on purpose (way) early in his career. This time around, he is adamant that it was unintentional.</p><p>Chris Paul was tremendous for Thunder on Saturday, as he led his side with 26 points (on 11-of-20 shooting), six rebounds, five assists, a steal, and a block in 41 minutes of action. He got a lot of help from Dennis Schroeder off the bench, with the backup guard netting a team-high 29 points on 10-of-23 from the floor, along with five rebounds, five assists, and two steals.</p><p>This was a huge win for OKC, as they were able to get one back in the series to make it 2-1. Another loss would have made it an insurmountable series lead for the Rockets. Instead, the Thunder have <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/4-adjustments-thunder-must-make-to-get-back-in-series-vs-rockets/">given themselves a chance to pull off an upset</a> in this high-octane first-round matchup.</p><figure class="op-tracker"><iframe><script>  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)  })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');  ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', 'auto');  ga('set', 'campaignSource', 'Facebook');  ga('set', 'campaignMedium', 'Instant Article');  ga('set', 'title', ia_document.title);  ga('send', 'pageview');</script><script type="text/javascript">      window._taboola = window._taboola || [];      _taboola.push({          article: 'auto',          ref_url: 'http://instantarticles.fb.com'      });      !function (e, f, u, i) {          if (!document.getElementById(i)) {              e.async = 1;              e.src = u;              e.id = i;              f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f);          }      }(document.createElement('script'),          document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0],          'https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/clutchpoints-clutchpoints/trk.js',          'tb_loader_script');      if (window.performance) {          if (typeof window.performance.mark == 'function') {            window.performance.mark('tbl_ic');          }        }</script></iframe></figure></article>    </body></html>

Chris Paul defends below-the-belt shot on Ben McLemore

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 18px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 16px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: #0000FF;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 16px;    text-decoration: none;}ul {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 16px;}ol {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px;    font-size: 16px;    border-left: 2px solid black;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 12px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;    background-color: #EFEFEF;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Chris-Paul-James-Harden-Mike-DAntoni.jpg"><figcaption>OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 25:  LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks on as he walks off the court against the Golden State Warriors during their NBA basketball game at ORACLE Arena on December 25, 2015 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement.  (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><h1>James Harden reacts to Chris Paul below-the-belt shot on Ben McLemore</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2020-08-22T20:17:36-07:00">August 22nd, 8:17pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2020-08-22T20:34:43-07:00">August 22nd, 8:34pm</time><address><a>Brandon Biskobing</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Should Chris Paul’s groin shot to Ben McLemore been reviewed? James Harden certainly thinks so.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/BenGolliver/status/1297348699451019266">Speaking to the media</a> following the Rockets 119-107 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Harden was not happy that the play wasn’t reviewed.</p><blockquote>“I don’t know what it was [intentional or not] but it should have been reviewed, especially if somebody gets hit in their private area. We ain’t got nowhere to go. It wasn’t [reviewed] &amp; I don’t know why not.” Harden said.</blockquote><p>The play occurred with 1:20 left in the game. Paul was called for an offensive foul, but Harden, as well as Rockets head coach Mike D’Antoni felt the play should have been reviewed for the potential of a flagrant foul call. D’Antoni was so <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/texas-sports-nation/rockets/article/Rockets-Mike-DAntoni-review-Chris-Paul-McLemore-15507896.php">indignant</a> that the referees weren’t reviewing the play that he incurred a technical foul in the process of arguing for the play to be reviewed.</p><blockquote>“I don’t know. Who knows,” D’Antoni said when asked if he thought the league would review the incident. “I asked the referee to just go over and review it. I didn’t have a clear (look.) But I know my guy got hit in a bad place with an elbow, so go look at it. But it’s not like in the bubble … there must be entertainment going on somewhere because what else do we have to do? Let’s go over, look at it, come back and play basketball.”</blockquote><p>The league could possibly review the play and come down with a retroactive punishment for Paul. Commissioner Adam Silver has not made any indication of whether he will do so or not.</p><p>Paul claimed the contact was incidental.</p><blockquote>“I tried to get by him,” Paul said. “It was incidental. I know when I did it on purpose, that was in college. That was a long time ago. I checked on Ben, he said he was fine. I know Mike. He’s gonna get mad, he’s gonna yell and scream.”</blockquote><p>This win was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/4-adjustments-thunder-must-make-to-get-back-in-series-vs-rockets/">the first of the series</a> for Chris Paul and the Thunder. The Rockets now lead the series 2-1. Game four is Monday at 4 PM ET on TNT.</p><p> </p><figure class="op-tracker"><iframe><script>  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)  })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');  ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', 'auto');  ga('set', 'campaignSource', 'Facebook');  ga('set', 'campaignMedium', 'Instant Article');  ga('set', 'title', ia_document.title);  ga('send', 'pageview');</script><script type="text/javascript">      window._taboola = window._taboola || [];      _taboola.push({          article: 'auto',          ref_url: 'http://instantarticles.fb.com'      });      !function (e, f, u, i) {          if (!document.getElementById(i)) {              e.async = 1;              e.src = u;              e.id = i;              f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f);          }      }(document.createElement('script'),          document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0],          'https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/clutchpoints-clutchpoints/trk.js',          'tb_loader_script');      if (window.performance) {          if (typeof window.performance.mark == 'function') {            window.performance.mark('tbl_ic');          }        }</script></iframe></figure></article>    </body></html>

James Harden reacts to Chris Paul below-the-belt shot on Ben McLemore

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 18px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 16px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: #0000FF;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 16px;    text-decoration: none;}ul {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 16px;}ol {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px;    font-size: 16px;    border-left: 2px solid black;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 12px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;    background-color: #EFEFEF;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Ben-McLemore-makes-young-fan-cry-with-surprise-IG-Live.jpg"><figcaption>CP</figcaption></figure><h1>VIDEO: Rockets’ Ben McLemore makes young fan cry with surprise IG Live</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2020-04-06T20:25:31-07:00">April 6th, 8:25pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2020-04-06T20:25:31-07:00">April 6th, 8:25pm</time><address><a>Kriel Ibarrola</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/adnw_request?placement=1709097162682630_1935907953334882&amp;adtype=banner300x250" width="300" height="250"></iframe></figure></header><p>Houston Rockets guard Ben McLemore brightened a young fan’s day during these trying times.</p><p>Even with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-nba-season-suspended-after-rudy-gobert-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/" rel="noopener noreferrer">NBA on a hiatus</a> due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 27-year-old Kansas product made sure to give back to his fans through a simple gesture of a surprise video call.</p><p>A teary-eyed kid couldn’t hide his excitement when McLemore entertained his request for a call on Instagram live on Monday. Check out the amazing interaction between the Rockets player and fan:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe class="no-margin"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ben McLemore surprised this fan on IG Live and his reaction is everything 🙌</p><p>(via <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/BenMcLemore?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BenMcLemore</a>) <a target="_blank" href="https://t.co/BvYmhLRGcV">pic.twitter.com/BvYmhLRGcV</a></p><p>— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1247354278349426688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 7, 2020</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></iframe></figure><p>After struggling to find his footing in his early years with the league, Ben McLemore has found his niche off the bench under Mike D’Antoni in Houston. The 6-foot-3 scorer, however, has failed to live up to his billing as the seventh overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 2013 Draft.</p><p>He seems to have found the role the suits him best, giving the Rockets a nice scoring boost off the bench with averages of 9.8 points and 2.2 rebounds in 22 minutes per contest.</p><p>McLemore is shooting with efficiency for the Rockets, knocking down 44.5 percent of his field goals and 39.5 percent of his 3-pointers in 63 appearances.</p><p>Kudos to Ben for making this young man’s day.</p><p>—</p><p><i>Follow ClutchPoints on </i><a href="https://twitter.com/clutchpointsapp"><i>Twitter</i></a><i> &amp; </i><a href="https://www.instagram.com/clutchpoints/?hl=en"><i>Instagram</i></a><i>, and like us on </i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClutchPoints/"><i>Facebook</i></a><i>. We can also be found on Flipboard where you can subscribe and follow us.</i></p><p><i>All of our NBA content can be found on the NBA section of the ClutchPoints home page </i><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sports/nba-news"><i>here</i></a><i>. For all of our college basketball content, click </i><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-basketball/"><i>here</i></a><i>.</i></p><p><i>Follow NBA games live by downloading the </i><a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clutchpoints-live-sports/id1044413150"><i>ClutchPoints App</i></a><i> and heading to the scores tab under the NBA section.</i></p><p><i>You can listen and subscribe to the Battle for LA podcast on </i><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/battle-for-la-podcast-clutchpoints/id1454992632"><i>Apple Podcasts</i></a><i>, </i><a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5okIevNHpv8dWj4E9iciry"><i>Spotify</i></a><i>, and </i><a href="https://soundcloud.com/battleforlaclutchpoints"><i>Soundcloud</i></a><i>. You can also find new episodes of Battle for LA, the ClutchPoints NBA Podcast, and Establish the Pass under the </i><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/podcast/"><i>Podcast tab</i></a><i> on the ClutchPoints home page.</i></p><figure class="op-tracker"><iframe><script>  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)  })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');  ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', 'auto');  ga('set', 'campaignSource', 'Facebook');  ga('set', 'campaignMedium', 'Instant Article');  ga('set', 'title', ia_document.title);  ga('send', 'pageview');</script><iframe>    <script type="text/javascript">        window._taboola = window._taboola || [];        _taboola.push({            article: 'auto',            ref_url: 'http://instantarticles.fb.com'        });        !function (e, f, u, i) {            if (!document.getElementById(i)) {                e.async = 1;                e.src = u;                e.id = i;                f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f);            }        }(document.createElement('script'),            document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0],            'https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/clutchpoints-clutchpoints/trk.js',            'tb_loader_script');        if (window.performance) {          if (typeof window.performance.mark == 'function') {            window.performance.mark('tbl_ic');          }        }    </script>    </iframe></iframe></figure></article>    </body></html>

VIDEO: Rockets’ Ben McLemore makes young fan cry with surprise IG Live

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 18px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 16px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: #0000FF;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 16px;    text-decoration: none;}ul {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 16px;}ol {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px;    font-size: 16px;    border-left: 2px solid black;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 12px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;    background-color: #EFEFEF;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Ben-McLemore-posterizes-Jaxson-Hayes.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Rockets’ Ben McLemore posterizes Jaxson Hayes</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2020-02-02T12:15:23-08:00">February 2nd, 12:15pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2020-02-02T12:15:51-08:00">February 2nd, 12:15pm</time><address><a>Marty Fenn</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/adnw_request?placement=1709097162682630_1935907953334882&amp;adtype=banner300x250" width="300" height="250"></iframe></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sports/nba/houston-rockets/">Houston Rockets</a> guard Ben McLemore took flight on Sunday afternoon against the New Orleans.</p><p>McLemore took the ball strong to the rim late in the first quarter. Needless to say, he served up a massive facial on Pelicans rookie big man Jaxson Hayes:</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe class="no-margin"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Ben McLemore posters Jaxson Hayes <a target="_blank" href="https://t.co/Q9PsIO0ntn">pic.twitter.com/Q9PsIO0ntn</a></p><p>— The Render (@TheRenderNBA2) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/TheRenderNBA2/status/1224053010927702025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 2, 2020</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></iframe></figure><p>Hayes was clearly late in his rotation as the help defender. But McLemore was not to be denied as he took it to the tin with conviction.</p><p>McLemore has experienced somewhat of a career revival with the Rockets. The former No. 7 overall pick played just 19 games with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sports/nba/sacramento-kings/">Sacramento Kings</a> last season, and his stock had fallen considerably due to injuries and character questions.</p><p>However, the 26-year-old has capitalized on his opportunity to play heavy minutes for Houston. McLemore entered Sunday’s game averaging 10.1 points while shooting better than 38 percent from beyond the arc on 6.6 attempts per game.</p><p>McLemore has also started in 17 of his 48 appearances while establishing himself as a vital backcourt player in the wake of Gerald Green’s absence.</p><p>–</p><p><i>Follow ClutchPoints on <a href="https://twitter.com/clutchpointsapp" rel="noopener noreferrer">Twitter</a> &amp; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/clutchpoints/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer">Instagram</a>, and like us on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClutchPoints/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook</a>. We can also be found on Flipboard where you can subscribe and follow us.</i></p><p><i>All of our NBA content can be found on the NBA section of the ClutchPoints home page <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/sports/nba-news" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>. For all of our college basketball content, click <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/ncaa-basketball/" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.</i></p><p><i>Follow NBA games live by downloading the <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/clutchpoints-live-sports/id1044413150" rel="noopener noreferrer">ClutchPoints App</a> and heading to the scores tab under the NBA section.</i></p><p><i>You can listen and subscribe to the Battle for LA podcast on <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/battle-for-la-podcast-clutchpoints/id1454992632" rel="noopener noreferrer">Apple Podcasts</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5okIevNHpv8dWj4E9iciry" rel="noopener noreferrer">Spotify</a>, and <a href="https://soundcloud.com/battleforlaclutchpoints" rel="noopener noreferrer">Soundcloud</a>. You can also find new episodes of Battle for LA, the ClutchPoints NBA Podcast, and Establish the Pass under the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/podcast/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Podcast tab</a> on the ClutchPoints home page.</i></p><figure class="op-tracker"><iframe><script>  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)  })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');  ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', 'auto');  ga('set', 'campaignSource', 'Facebook');  ga('set', 'campaignMedium', 'Instant Article');  ga('set', 'title', ia_document.title);  ga('send', 'pageview');</script><iframe>    <script type="text/javascript">        window._taboola = window._taboola || [];        _taboola.push({            article: 'auto',            ref_url: 'http://instantarticles.fb.com'        });        !function (e, f, u, i) {            if (!document.getElementById(i)) {                e.async = 1;                e.src = u;                e.id = i;                f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f);            }        }(document.createElement('script'),            document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0],            'https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/clutchpoints-clutchpoints/trk.js',            'tb_loader_script');        if (window.performance) {          if (typeof window.performance.mark == 'function') {            window.performance.mark('tbl_ic');          }        }    </script>    </iframe></iframe></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rockets’ Ben McLemore posterizes Jaxson Hayes

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 18px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px;    font-size: 16px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: #0000FF;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 16px;    text-decoration: none;}ul {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 16px;}ol {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px;    font-size: 16px;    border-left: 2px solid black;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: #333333;    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 12px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;    background-color: #EFEFEF;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article><header><figure><img src="https://clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Danuel_House_Jr._likely_back_in_starting_lineup_as_Ben_McLemore_returns_to_bench.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Rockets’ Danuel House Jr. likely back in starting lineup as Ben McLemore returns to bench</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2019-12-06T11:42:39-08:00">December 6th, 11:42am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2019-12-06T11:42:39-08:00">December 6th, 11:42am</time><address><a>Bruno Manrique</a></address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/adnw_request?placement=1709097162682630_1935907953334882&amp;adtype=banner300x250" width="300" height="250"></iframe></figure></header><p>Houston Rockets forward Ben McLemore is likely to return to the bench after enjoying a nice three-game stint as a starter. Danuel House Jr., who has started at small forward for most of the season, is due his spot back after returning from an illness, scoring 16 points in a win over the Toronto Raptors.</p><p>McLemore scored a season-high 28 points on Thursday, now averaging 16.3 points in 30.8 minutes per game as a starter, but head coach Mike D’Antoni pointed to his trusty sharpshooter deserving to suit up next to Russell Westbrook and James Harden in the starting lineup.</p><blockquote>“Danuel needs to start,” said D’Antoni, according to <a href="https://www.chron.com/sports/rockets/article/Ben-McLemore-likely-return-bench-Rockets-14887284.php" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle</a>. “It shouldn’t matter. Danuel hadn’t practiced or anything. He still had chills and stuff.”</blockquote><p>D’Antoni praised McLemore, noting he will still get minutes even if he’s struggled as a part of the bench.</p><blockquote>“He plays hard and he’s coachable,” D’Antoni said. “He does have a nice shot. He needs confidence. He needs to play. He needs to feel wanted. Hopefully, he will continue to get better. Somebody that is that good a person, plays that hard, has that talent, something good has got to happen unless he’s the unluckiest guy in the world.”</blockquote><p>House scored 16 first-half points but did not score in the second half of Thursday’s game.</p><blockquote>“It was difficult,” House said of playing through his illness. “I’m pretty sure people in the world knows how the flu handles your body. I started off; I had enough. I was searching deep to find some more. I’m glad my teammates were there to support me, carry me. I’m cool with it.”</blockquote><p>House earned the starting small forward spot after outplaying a misfiring Eric Gordon at the start of the season, who now nurses a short-term injury.</p><figure class="op-tracker"><iframe><script>  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)  })(window,document,'script','https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');  ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', 'auto');  ga('set', 'campaignSource', 'Facebook');  ga('set', 'campaignMedium', 'Instant Article');  ga('set', 'title', ia_document.title);  ga('send', 'pageview');</script><iframe>    <script type="text/javascript">        window._taboola = window._taboola || [];        _taboola.push({            article: 'auto',            ref_url: 'http://instantarticles.fb.com'        });        !function (e, f, u, i) {            if (!document.getElementById(i)) {                e.async = 1;                e.src = u;                e.id = i;                f.parentNode.insertBefore(e, f);            }        }(document.createElement('script'),            document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0],            'https://cdn.taboola.com/libtrc/clutchpoints-clutchpoints/trk.js',            'tb_loader_script');        if (window.performance) {          if (typeof window.performance.mark == 'function') {            window.performance.mark('tbl_ic');          }        }    </script>    </iframe></iframe></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rockets’ Danuel House Jr. likely back in starting lineup as Ben McLemore returns to bench

Wesley Matthews

Miles Bridges

Kawhi Leonard

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Ben McLemore

Jrue Holiday

Doug McDermott

Montrezl Harrell

Evan Fournier

Emmanuel Mudiay

Sacramento Kings

Memphis Grizzlies

Houston Rockets

1 seasons

1 season

5 seasons

https://twitter.com/BenMcLemore/status/1349816634576412691/

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https://twitter.com/BenMcLemore/status/1344835362443522048/

Great team win tonight!!!
An congrats to coach Silas on his first win and many more. #htown

https://twitter.com/BenMcLemore/status/1344830789561831425/

https://twitter.com/BenMcLemore/status/1331713373193465856/

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Fourth Quarter @PatrickMahomes 😤😤😤

https://twitter.com/BenMcLemore/status/1309978127372881920/

Ben
McLemore

Chris Paul defends below-the-belt shot on Ben McLemore

James Harden reacts to Chris Paul below-the-belt shot on Ben McLemore...

VIDEO: Rockets’ Ben McLemore makes young fan cry with surprise IG Live...

Rockets’ Ben McLemore posterizes Jaxson Hayes

Rockets’ Danuel House Jr. likely back in starting lineup as Ben McLemore returns to bench