Dwight Howard goes up for a dunk for two of his 22 points as the Clippers’ Blake Griffin watches in the Rockets’ 107-97 victory over visiting Clippers/AP photo by Pat Sullivan
Before the Clippers knew what hit them, they were down 36-14 with 1:42 left in the first quarter at Houston on Saturday night. It got worse. When Dwight Howard made a put-back, it was 43-17 at 9:18 of the second.
What the heck?
The Clippers actually cut their deficit to six points at 64:58 with 6:04 left in the third. But that was their only look at the game as the Rockets led by as many as 22 (100-78) midway through the fourth before the Clippers closed the gap at the end.
The slow start brought harsh reaction from point guard Clippers point guard Chris Paul.
“We came out flat and we can’t do that,” he said. “Starting from the jump ball, Trevor (Ariza) got a layup. Even though, we didn’t make shots tonight, especially I didn’t make shots, I think our defense is what can always help us and tonight, it didn’t.”
Paul scored 12 points and just 3 of 13 shooting. The Clippers (16-12) shot 39.5 percent, the Rockets (14-14) 44.7.
