NBA

LA Clippers at Houston Rockets

· NBA Cup - Group Play
6-7, 3-3 Away
Final
104 - 125

9-4, 6-2 Home

Jabari Smith Jr. has season-high 28 points as Rockets rout Clippers 125-104 in NBA Cup play

LA Clippers vs. Houston Rockets: Game Highlights

It was Houston’s season-high fourth straight victory and the team’s second straight over the Clippers after getting a 111-103 win Wednesday night.

The Rockets led comfortably throughout and used a big run in the third quarter to enter the fourth leading by 19.

Fred VanVleet added 18 points and 10 assists for Houston and Dillon Brooks scored 17.

James Harden had 21 points for the Clippers, who lost their third straight after winning their previous four. He made three 3-pointers to move into a tie with Ray Allen (2,973) for second-most career 3-pointers behind Stephen Curry, who entered Friday with 3,779.

Takeaways Clippers: Los Angeles was flat in its two games in Houston after its season-long winning streak. They’ll need to regroup and find a way to get more production from their starting lineup while they await the return of Kawhi Leonard. He hasn’t played this season while rehabilitating his right knee.

Rockets: Tari Eason and Amen Thompson again gave Houston a boost off the bench. The two combined for 29 points after scoring 18 each in Wednesday’s win.

Key moment The Clippers used a 6-2 run to get within 12 with about eight minutes left in the third quarter before Houston scored the next nine points to extend the lead to 79-58. Brooks started that run with a 3 before VanVleet found Jalen Green for an alley-oop dunk.

Key stat The Rockets had 20 fast-break points to just eight by the Clippers.

Up next The Rockets visit Chicago on Sunday night and the Clippers host Utah that night.

Regular Season Series

HOU leads series 2-0

Matchup Prediction

Rockets: 69.9%
Clippers: 30.1%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Recent Plays

4th 0.0 End of Game 104 - 125
4th 0.0 End of the 4th Quarter 104 - 125
4th 4.0 Kai Jones defensive rebound 104 - 125
4th 7.1 Aaron Holiday misses 26-foot three point pullup jump shot 104 - 125
4th 23.1 Jae'Sean Tate defensive rebound 104 - 125

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/lac.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originLAC https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nba/500/hou.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originHOU
34-90 FG 46-95
37.8 Field Goal % 48.4
10-40 3PT 19-44
25.0 Three Point % 43.2
26-33 FT 14-18
78.8 Free Throw % 77.8
51 Rebounds 48
13 Offensive Rebounds 9
38 Defensive Rebounds 39
12 Assists 31
6 Steals 11
6 Blocks 3
14 Turnovers 12
1 Team Turnovers 0
15 Total Turnovers 12
1 Technical Fouls 2
1 Total Technical Fouls 2
0 Flagrant Fouls 0
20 Points Conceded Off Turnovers 16
10 Fast Break Points 23
44 Points in Paint 48
15 Fouls 25
0 Largest Lead 28

Game Information

Toyota Center (Houston)

Location: Houston, TX
Attendance: 18,055 · Capacity:

2024-25 Pacific Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
LA Clippers 17 13 .567 - W1
LA Lakers 16 13 .552 0.5 L1
Golden State 15 13 .536 1 L1
Phoenix 14 14 .500 2 L3
Sacramento 13 17 .433 4 L4

2024-25 Southwest Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 20 9 .690 - W3
Memphis 20 10 .667 0.5 L1
Dallas 19 10 .655 1 W2
San Antonio 15 14 .517 5 L1
New Orleans 5 25 .167 15.5 L7
Full Standings

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