LOS ANGELES -- Sometimes, the son rises in the West.

Backup point guard Austin Rivers scored a playoff-high 25 points and sparked a pivotal second-half run that helped the Los Angeles Clippers coast to a 124-99 rout of the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of their Western Conference playoff semifinal Friday night at Staples Center.

Guard J.J. Redick led all scorers with a playoff-best 31 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field as the Clippers took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Rivers, the son of head coach Doc Rivers, ignited a late third-quarter surge that blew the game open. He scored 15 points on drives and jumpers in the final 4:08 of the quarter, converting 6 of 8 shots from the floor and boosting the Clippers to a 99-76 cushion heading into the fourth.

"Oh, it was fun, man," said Austin Rivers, who finished 10 of 13 from the floor and 3 of 6 from 3-point range. "I had so much fun out there. It started with our defense. We kept getting stops, so we were just getting the rebound and going.

"In transition defense, they were kind of getting lost a little bit, and I just kept seeing they were kind of just backpedalling, because it's hard to guard when someone is going at you full speed and can change direction, so I was just going at them."

Said Doc Rivers, "It was great. It was needed. He was just very aggressive, and that's what we've been telling him to do, and he was that. I thought it started with his defensive rebounding, honestly, and that got him into the game."

Clippers point guard Chris Paul returned after missing the opening two games of the series with a strained left hamstring. He finished with 12 points and seven assists with only one turnover in 23 minutes.

Forward Blake Griffin had 22 points and 14 rebounds but committed seven of the Clippers' 18 turnovers (Houston had 15).

All five Rockets starters scored in double figures, with All-Star guard and MVP runner-up James Harden leading the way with 25 points and 11 assists. Center Dwight Howard had 14 points and 14 rebounds.

"I think I could have been a little bit more aggressive," said Harden, who hit 8 of 16 field goals and 4 of 7 3-pointers, but made five turnovers. "Just too passive."

McHale said the combination of Rivers and Redick overwhelmed Houston.

"We didn't necessarily do anything good," McHale said. "We were able to hang around a little bit in the first half, but then at the rate we were playing, we just couldn't maintain it. And Rivers and Redick are 8 of 12 from the 3-point line, and they got it rolling. Hell, what were they? They were 21 of 27 between the two of them from the field, so there were no answers there."

The Clippers led by 12 points in the first half en route to a 64-57 lead at the break. Redick scored 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and hit all three of his 3-point attempts before intermission.

Howard said the Rockets can't afford to let Redick and Rivers have such a huge impact on the outcome.

"It obviously wasn't a very good game on our part," Howard said. "They did a lot of things on the offensive end that we have to do a better job of stopping. We can't let guys like J.J. Redick and Austin Rivers gain the confidence that they've been having the whole series. We've got to find a way to get those guys off their game."

Los Angeles outshot Houston 54.3 percent to 41.2 percent from the field in the first half. Overall, the Clippers finished at 55.4 percent to 39.8 percent for the Rockets. The Clippers also made 14-of-29 3-pointers to 11-of-33 for the Rockets.

Houston guard Jason Terry was ejected with eight minutes left in the game after a brief altercation with Griffin.

Game 4 is Sunday at the Staples Center.

NOTES: Clippers coach Doc Rivers chastised F Matt Barnes earlier Friday for his vile comments to the mother of Rockets G James Harden during Game 2. The NBA fined Barnes $50,000 for his actions. "I was not pleased and I made that clear," Rivers said. "I made it clear to Matt and the entire team, and I am going to leave it at that." ... Houston coach Kevin McHale dismissed protocol, deciding to hold his pregame meeting with reporters in the hallway outside the designed media room before Rivers' session ended. That forced more than half of the media to miss McHale's session. ... The series will return to Houston for Game 5 on Tuesday.