Clippers can’t keep up with efficient Rockets in 4th

HOUSTON — The Clippers did a lot of things well Tuesday night, but the Houston Rockets managed to do more with less.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Alperen Sengun added 22 to help the efficient Rockets to a 102-95 victory over the Clippers on the first night of a back-to-back set between the teams at the Toyota Center.

Houston led by six points at the start the fourth period and scored the first seven points of the period to extend its lead to 85-72 with 10½ minutes remaining. Kawhi Leonard made two free throws, but the Rockets scored the next four points to extend their lead.

The Rockets were up by 12 later in the fourth when Durant stole the ball from Brook Lopez, and Reed Sheppard made an off-balance 3-pointer to make it 92-77 with about 6½ minutes to go.

Houston remained up by 15 about a minute later when Clippers coach Tyronn Lue cleared his bench.

Leonard led the Clippers with 24 points – his 32nd consecutive game of at least 20 – and eight rebounds after scoring 41 in a blowout win in December in the last meeting between the teams. The Clippers made 20 3-pointers in that 128-108 victory, but were just 8 for 30 from long range (27%) on Tuesday. John Collins had 17 points and eight rebounds for the Clippers.

The Clippers had more rebounds, more offensive boards, more assists, more steals and fewer turnovers. They also attempted more shots, more 3-point shots and more free throws, but they did so less efficiently than the Rockets (33-19), who shot 14 for 28 from behind the arc for an 18-point advantage over the Clippers (25-28).

The Clippers had a 10-point advantage in the paint (50-40) and scored 17 points off of 18 Rocket turnovers, but the perimeter scoring gap swung the game as Houston won for the seventh time in 10 games.

Sheppard scored 16 points off the bench for Houston, while Jabari Smith Jr. had 13 points and 11 rebounds and Amen Thompson added 16 points and six rebounds for the Rockets in his return after sitting out of Saturday’s victory over Oklahoma City because of an illness. Sengun added seven rebounds and five assists.

The Clippers’ early prowess in the paint allowed them to overcome a quiet start from Leonard, who scored two points in the opening period. The Clippers trailed 27-26 entering the second after scoring 16 paint points in the first and converting four Houston turnovers into five points.

After Sengun and Smith scored in the paint to lift the Rockets to a 35-31 lead, the Clippers responded with consecutive 3-pointers from Lopez and Derrick Jones Jr. They ignited a seesaw stretch that continued through the remainder of the half, with the teams combining for seven lead changes and six ties in the second quarter alone.

Behind a combined 24 points from Collins and Leonard, the Clippers led 52-51 at the break.

A 3-pointer by Jordan Miller cut the Rockets’ lead to two points late in the third before Sengun scored the last two baskets of the quarter to put the Rockets up 78-72 entering the fourth.

Thompson’s transition dunk with 11:20 remaining gave the Rockets their first double-digit lead at 83-72. Sheppard’s running layup pushed the Rockets to an 89-74 lead with 9:15 to play, and his two fourth-quarter 3-pointers kept the Clippers at bay. The Rockets did not allow a field goal in the final period until Bennedict Mathurin scored through a foul at the 7:45 mark, with his subsequent free throw cutting the deficit to 89-77.

Mathurin had nine points and seven rebounds in 26 minutes in his first game since being acquired in a trade with Indiana last week. Point guard Darius Garland, acquired in the trade that sent 11-time All-Star guard James Harden to Cleveland, remains out with a toe injury.

The Clippers shot 41% from the field (36 for 88) compared to 46% (36 for 79) for Houston.

UP NEXT

The teams meet again Wednesday at 5 p.m. PT in Houston in their last game before the All-Star break.