Clippers at Rockets
THE STORY: The Los Angeles Clippers play the third contest of a six-game road trip when they visit the Houston Rockets on Sunday. Los Angeles split the first two games of the excursion and lost to the Phoenix Suns on Friday. The Clippers have dropped four of their last six games. The Rockets are 15-5 at home but one of the losses came Friday against the Denver Nuggets. The Rockets have lost two straight games after winning four in a row.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), Fox Sports Houston
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (21-13): All-Star forward Blake Griffin could rebound with a big night after two consecutive subpar performances. Griffin had his worst shooting game (6 of 19) of the season in the loss to Phoenix while scoring 17 points. Griffin has just 31 points over the last two games after scoring 20 or more in eight straight games. He has not scored under 20 points in three consecutive games all season. Griffin has grabbed less than 10 rebounds in three straight games for the second time this season.
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (21-16): Guard Kevin Martin emerged from a three-game slump to score a season-best 35 points against the Nuggets. Martin hit 10 of 15 shots (including six 3-pointers) after making just 27 percent of his attempts and averaging only 12.0 points over the previous three contests. Martin’s streakiness can be confounding – he has scored 25 or more points 13 times but has also scored in double digits seven times. The eight-year veteran is averaging 18.0 points after averaging more than 20 points in each of the previous five seasons.
BUZZER BEATERS:
1. Houston has won 25 of the last 32 meetings but the Clippers routed the Rockets 117-89 on Jan. 4 in Los Angeles.
2. The Rockets have been outrebounded in nine straight games, including 49-35 by Denver.
3. The Clippers shot just 36.8 percent in the loss to Phoenix.