Rockets 100, Clippers 98
James Harden knocked down 17-of-18 at the line en route to 34 points and added seven rebounds and seven assists as visiting Houston held off Los Angeles.
Trevor Ariza added 19 points and nine boards and Terrence Jones had 16 and 12 for the Rockets, who pulled within a half-game of Portland for the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference. Patrick Beverley scored 11 points as Houston overcame a 37.2 percent shooting effort from the field.
Blake Griffin (staph infection) returned from a 15-game absence and collected 11 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Clippers, who have dropped four of six. Chris Paul added 23 points, Matt Barnes scored 19 and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 20 rebounds as Los Angeles dropped into a tie for the No. 5 spot in the West with Dallas.
Paul scored nine points, including the tying 3-pointer, in a 13-3 burst that knotted it at 96 with 3:04 to play. Jones buried a 3-pointer out of a timeout to put the Rockets back in front and Griffin was called for a charge after stealing the ball with 12 seconds left before Harden split a pair of free throws, and Paul missed everything on a tying attempt in the lane at the buzzer.
The Clippers led by 10 points in the first quarter and were still up six before Harden scored the first seven of a 13-2 burst to put Houston in front 45-40, and the Rockets would go into the break up eight. Houston pushed the lead to 73-58 with a 10-0 burst in the third before settling for a 10-point gap heading to the final period.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Clippers G Jordan Hamilton left the game in the third quarter with a right ankle sprain and did not return. … Barnes was hit with a flagrant 1 foul pulling Harden to the ground in the first half. … Los Angeles turned the ball over 20 times and missed 10 free throws.