Rockets at Clippers
James Harden is playing the best basketball of his career, and the Southern California native should be energized when his Houston Rockets visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. Harden scored 45 points in Sunday’s loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and came back with 40 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in Tuesday’s win at the Phoenix Suns. He’ll be facing a Los Angeles team that’s without its best player in Blake Griffin, who underwent surgery Monday for a staph infection in his elbow.
The Clippers have split the two games since Griffin went down, and the team's leading scorer is expected to be sidelined at least three more weeks. Griffin had 30 points and 10 rebounds when the Clippers went to Houston and beat the Rockets by 17 points on Nov. 28 during the early stages of a nine-game winning streak. The Rockets didn’t have All-Star center Dwight Howard in that matchup, and they won’t have him against the Clippers as he’s expected to be out another six to eight weeks with a knee injury.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, ROOT (Houston), FSN Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE ROCKETS (36-16): The Rockets have gone 8-4 in the second game of back-to-backs this season, winning three of the last four. Houston is hoping to add to its depth by getting backup forward Terrence Jones back on the bench after he missed Tuesday’s game with flu-like symptoms. Josh Smith did a good job picking up the scoring slack on the second unit, scoring 20 points against the Suns, one off his high since joining the Rockets just before Christmas.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (34-19): DeAndre Jordan showed he’s ready to fill some of the void left open by Griffin’s absence, posting 22 points and a career-high 27 rebounds in Monday’s win against the Dallas Mavericks, which culminated an eight-game road trip. The first game back from a long road swing is typically considered a trap game, but Los Angeles fared well after returning from a seven-game trip earlier this season, winning its next three home games by double digits to continue their nine-game winning streak. Finding someone to guard Harden will be the biggest issue, as Chris Paul is too small and neither J.J. Redick nor Matt Barnes have the foot speed to stay in front of him.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Clippers backup G Jamal Crawford has scored at least 20 points 17 times this season, the most of any reserve in the NBA.
2. Los Angeles has won 10 of the last 11 against the Rockets.
3. Harden has six games with at least 40 points this season, the most in the NBA.