Clippers-Rockets Preview

By TAYLOR BECHTOLD

(AP) -- The last time the Los Angeles Clippers played at the Toyota Center, they walked off the court dejectedly in the wake of an unlikely collapse in the Western Conference semifinals.

A home loss to the Houston Rockets in November did little to erase those bad memories.

Now the Clippers hope to take advantage of another opportunity to overcome their nemesis Saturday night when they try to keep the Rockets from a fifth straight home victory.

After knocking off defending champion San Antonio in a thrilling seven-game series last postseason, Los Angeles (16-11) appeared to be on its way to the conference finals with a seemingly commanding 3-1 series advantage over the Rockets (13-14).

Houston, however, took the last three games by an average of 15.4 points. James Harden had 31 points in Game 7 when the Rockets led by as many as 20 en route to a 113-100 home win.

The three-time All-Star then finished with 46 points on 14-of-26 shooting in a 109-105 win over the Clippers at Staples Center on Nov. 7. Harden is scoring 28.7 per game while going 97 for 105 (92.4 percent) from the free-throw line in his last nine meetings, including playoffs.

Dwight Howard, who contributed 20 points and a season-high 20 rebounds in last month's win, is averaging 19.0 and 17.8 in his last four games versus Los Angeles going back to the postseason series.

Both clubs started out this season surprisingly slow before coming on strong recently. Houston has won eight of 12 since opening 5-10, while Los Angeles has won nine of 12 since a 7-8 start.

"Our crowd will be there behind us and supporting us," Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "It's time for us to start to step up, it doesn't matter who our opponent is."

The Clippers had their three-game winning streak end in Friday's 115-107 loss at San Antonio. Chris Paul had 27 points, Blake Griffin scored 25 and DeAndre Jordan added 16 and 17 boards.

Paul averaged 23.5 points and 10.8 assists in the last four games of last year's playoff series, but did not play in the November meeting. Griffin has scored 27.9 per game while pulling down 12.1 rebounds in his last eight matchups, including the postseason.

The Clippers will have to get on track defensively after allowing their highest point total in 16 games, along with a 49.4 field-goal percentage and 10 for 19 shooting from 3-point range Friday. They had held opponents to a 41.1 shooting percentage over their previous four.

"We just need to start playing consistently together on the same night," Paul said.

The Rockets have averaged 117.5 points on 47.9 percent from the field - including a 43.9 mark from beyond the arc - during their season-best winning streak at Toyota Center.

After dropping the first two, they salvaged a win on their three-game road swing despite shooting 38.6 percent on Thursday. Harden had 25 points but missed 17 of 24 shots and Howard added 16 and 15 rebounds in a 107-87 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Houston will be without backup point guard Ty Lawson for two games without pay for a drunken-driving case in Colorado. He also was charged with speeding and other offenses last January, but pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired and a lane violation.