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Clippers prime short-handed Rockets for sixth straight win – Redlands Each day Details

Game RecapBy No Comments10 Mins Read
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Clippers middle Ivica Zubac dunks as Houston Rockets middle Jock Landale defends throughout the first half on Wednesday evening on the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. (AP Picture/Mark J. Terrill)

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INGLEWOOD — The lacking faces have been apparent from the tipoff. With the No. 2 seed locked up, the Houston Rockets sat 4 of their regular starters, leaving energy ahead Jalen Inexperienced because the lone recognizable participant within the lineup.

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue wasn’t involved about which gamers his crew would see on the court docket within the ultimate house sport of the common season. The Clippers had a job to do, and it didn’t matter who did or didn’t stand of their method.

“We now have to be skilled regardless of who’s within the sport. They obtained crew, obtained a younger core that’s actually good,” Lue stated earlier than the sport. “(Rockets coach) Ime (Udoka) has completed a hell of a job. He’s an amazing coach and so you’ll be able to’t underestimate any crew you play on this league.

“We obtained to be able to go from the leap, have a defensive mindset to start out the sport and nail it down.”

It took a while, however the Clippers ultimately wore down the Rockets’ younger corps for a 134-117 victory within the second sport of a back-to-back set on Wednesday evening, a win that helped them inch nearer to their purpose of a top-six seed.

At 48-32, the Clippers are tied with the Denver Nuggets for fourth place within the Western Convention with two video games left within the common season, however they dropped one spot to the fifth seed as a result of the head-to-head tiebreaker changed the four-team tiebreaker that favored the Clippers an evening earlier.

Memphis (47-32), which was idle, is alone in sixth for now after Golden State (47-33) misplaced to San Antonio and dropped to seventh. Minnesota (46-33) is eighth and performs at Memphis on Thursday evening.

James Harden scored a game-high 35 factors, made all 10 of his free-throw makes an attempt and had 10 assists to tempo the Clippers, who’ve gained six in a row and 16 of their previous 19 video games. Kawhi Leonard contributed 22 factors and 10 rebounds and 4 assists, whereas middle Ivica Zubac posted his first profession triple-double with 20 factors, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists.

“Having these two guys lead us is nice for us,” Lue stated of veterans Harden and Leonard. “Like I stated, the principle factor is these two guys want to simply keep wholesome and it’s going to be an thrilling run, so we’ll see what occurs.”

Lue had thought-about taking Zubac out of the sport late however modified his thoughts and ordered the 7-footer again on the court docket to see if they might get him the milestone, a lot to the delight of the Intuit Dome crowd.

“I normally don’t like doing that due to dangerous karma, however like I stated, he had an opportunity to roll right here,” Lue stated.

It turned out to be transfer. Zubac discovered Bogdan Bogdanovic transferring to the perimeter, fed him the ball and he buried a 25-footer to get the Croatian middle his spotlight.

“I instructed Bogie I’ll get it to you. You bought to shoot it it doesn’t matter what,” Zubac stated. “Bogie is an enormous shot-maker. I instructed him he was by no means paying for dinner once more, however I’m glad he made that shot.”

After a too-close first quarter, reserve ahead Nicolas Batum opened the second by scoring 12 consecutive factors to push the Clippers forward 48-42 on the 8:34 mark. He later left the sport due to proper groin soreness.

The Rockets’ younger corps, nevertheless, wouldn’t again down and stayed shut for the subsequent three minutes.

Then the Clippers turned up the quantity, keen to place distance between them and their opponent, and took a 71-58 halftime lead behind the play of their star trio.

Harden, Leonard and Zubac every scored in double figures by halftime.

The Clippers led by as many as 19 within the third quarter (90-71) however they nonetheless couldn’t relaxation simple. The Rockets went on an 8-0 run to start out the fourth and additional lower the result in single digits (117-109) on a 3-pointer by Jeff Inexperienced with 6:19 left, however that was as shut as they obtained down the stretch.

The Clippers prolonged their successful streak regardless of taking part in with out guard Norman Powell, who sat out due to a sore proper shoulder. Amir Coffey (knee) and Ben Simmons (left knee administration) additionally sat out.

The Rockets, who noticed their modest three-game successful streak finish, determined to sit down Dillon Brooks (relaxation), Alperen Şengün (decrease again), Jabari Smith Jr. (left groin), Amen Thompson (relaxation) and Fred VanVleet (proper ankle).

Inexperienced stored his season-long streak going, showing in his eightieth sport however didn’t play a lot. He scored 5 factors and had three assists in quarter-hour.

Reed Sheppard led six Rockets in double figures with 20 factors.

UP NEXT

The Clippers play at Sacramento on Friday at 7 p.m. earlier than closing the common season at Golden State on Sunday afternoon (12:30 p.m.).

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