Clippers vs Rockets Recap 12/19
- Updated: December 20, 2015
It started off poorly for the Clippers, and over the next two and a half hours, it got progressively worse.
With the Clippers leading 9-8 early in the first quarter, the Rockets went on 15-0 run, which would eventuate to a 30-6 run as they shot 54% from the field and basically broke the backs of the Clippers after one-quarter. Dwight Howard started well on 4/4 shooting and had eight points and five rebounds in eight first quarter minutes as the Rockets dominated on the glass with a 20-5 advantage.
At one stage, the Rockets had more offensive rebounds than the Clippers did total which summed up the Clippers biggest weakness so far this season. In the second quarter, the Rockets bench had more points than the entire Clippers team, which led to Doc Rivers resorting to the Hack-A-Dwight (and Capela) strategy early in the quarter.
By half time, the Rockets lead was down to 11 which gave the Clippers some hope.
After getting it back to six points early in the third quarter courtesy of some hot JJ Redick shooting, the Clippers defense essentially put the game to bed, allowing Trevor Ariza to get hot from beyond the arc to reinstall a double-digit deficit.
After many, many hackings, the Rockets continued to pull away, eventually coming away with a 107-97 win. Howard (22-14) and James Harden (18-11) recorded double doubles, leading the way for Houston while Chris Paul (12-10-7 steals), Blake Griffin (22-8-6) and DeAndre Jordan (16-11-4 blocks) all put up their usual numbers however it wasn’t nearly enough as they lacked support from anyone not named JJ Redick.
After a successful 5-game road trip last time around, the Clippers went 0-2 on their Texas trip and fall back to a 16-12 record. They now head back to Los Angeles to face Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder in a blockbuster game on Monday night.
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