DeAndre Jordan plays defense on Josh Smith of the Rockets/Photo by Jae C. Hong, Associated Press

– DeAndre Jordan had 20 rebounds, his sixth game of the season with at least 20 and third in the past week and a half. Yet, when New Orleans’ Anthony Davis on Wednesday declared himself out of the All-Star game, NBA commissioner Adam Silver selected Dallas’ Dirk Nowitzki to replace Davis instead of Jordan. Coach Doc Rivers was upset about this after the game, and for good reason. It’s about time Silver realized how valuable Jordan is to his team as the beastly rebounder and defensive wizard he has become.

– It’s true that Houston was without post Dwight Howard (knee). But the Clippers were without Blake Griffin (elbow), and Griffin is probably more valuable to the Clippers than Howard is to the Rockets. That said, this was a very good victory for the Clippers, who never trailed by more than four points and led by as many as the final margin – 15 points.

– Jamal Crawford can be having an off-night shooting the ball and be Mr. Clutch on that same night, like he was in this one when he banked in a 30-foot 3-pointer to give the Clippers an 89-81 lead. The Rockets never got closer than five points after that. Crawford scored 20 points, but shot just 6 of 15 from the field, 1 of 4 from 3-point range.

– Griffin has missed the past three games with his elbow injury, and the Clippers have won two of them, including the past two. For a team coming off a tough 3-5 Grammy trip, taking two victories into the All-Star break figures to give it a lift.

– They say things can become contagious in a sporting event. Such as poor shooting. The teams combined to shoot 19.4 percent (13 of 67) from 3-point range. The Rockets were 9 of 45 (20 percent), the Clippers were 4 of 22 (18.2 percent). Just awful. But it feels worse for Houston because it lost.