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Turnovers Costly In 110-105 Loss In Houston

Rowan Kavner

HOUSTON – Eventually, the streak against the Rockets had to end.

The Clippers (37-21) had won their last six matchups against the Rockets (39-18) before Wednesday night, when uncharacteristic turnovers and a barrage of Houston 3-pointers were too much to overcome despite another late comeback attempt that fell just short in a 110-105 loss.

Head coach Doc Rivers said turnovers and transition defense failed the Clippers. It was that transition defense that led to dribble penetration, which led to 3-pointers in the corner. The Rockets finished with 17 made 3-pointers and shot 11 more free throws than the Clippers.

“You know there’s going to be a lot of drives, you know there’s going to be a lot of threes,” Rivers said. “You don’t mind the threes, except for they took the ones they wanted – that was the corner threes, and I thought that hurt us overall.”

In a game with 16 ties and 15 lead changes in what could eventually be a playoff preview, the Rockets used a 15-1 start to the fourth quarter to go ahead on the Clippers’ reserves.

“It was tough,” said Jamal Crawford. “They got on a run, and we talked about that. There’s always a five or six minute gap, especially in our losses, where teams put together a run and we don’t really respond well.”

On Wednesday, the Clippers responded, but it wasn’t quite enough.

They cut a 13-point lead down to six with 5:16 remaining on a bucket by Crawford, who finished with 24 points off the bench, but the Rockets got the lead back up to 13. Once again, the Clippers answered by cutting the lead back down to six.

Another bucket from Crawford, who’s scored at least 20 points in all three matchups against the Rockets this season, cut the deficit to four points with 37 seconds left. But the Clippers wouldn’t score again the rest of the night.

The Rockets shot 45 percent in the fourth quarter, while the Clippers shot just 32 percent and went 1-of-5 from the line in the final quarter.

“They got too many threes,” said Chris Paul. “Threes and free throws is what they do and it’s why we’ve been so successful, not letting them get both, and tonight they got everything.”

The Clippers turned the ball over 16 times, falling despite 22 points and 19 rebounds from DeAndre Jordan, who had 24 points and 20 rebounds in his last matchup against the Rockets. It marked the sixth straight game with at least 15 rebounds for Jordan.

Paul also had a double-double, scoring 22 points to go along with 14 assists, but the huge start to the fourth quarter for the Rockets was too much to overcome.

“We still have a ways to go,” Crawford said. “You don’t want to be playing your best ball right now, but you want to start building, especially heading toward the end of the season.”

NOTES: The Clippers get a rematch with the Grizzlies on Friday in Memphis … Jordan recorded his eighth career first-half double-double and his fifth of the season … Jordan, who grew up in the Houston area, brought 35 kids to the game … He said he makes it a point to bring people from the same city and neighborhood he grew up in because he didn’t get that opportunity when he was younger … The Clippers finished with two more points in the paint and six more second-chance points than the Rockets, but they had six more turnovers …