GAMEDAY REPORT: CLIPPERS VS. ROCKETS - 11/4/13

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LOS ANGELES – There was a moment early in training camp when Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said he told his team they should score 100 points per game with ease.

On Monday night it was more like 130 points. The Clippers put together an historic offensive performance en route to a 137-118 victory over the previously unbeaten Houston Rockets at Staples Center.

It was the third win in a row for the Clippers (3-1) and the sixth straight at home dating back to April 3, 2013. Moreover, it was one of the most prolific performances since the team moved to Los Angeles 30 years ago.

They matched a team record with a 78-point first half, scored at least 137 points for the first time since 2009 and they made 15 3-pointers for just the sixth time in L.A. team history.

“I think if we continue to stay in our spacing and run our continuity,” Rivers said, “we should be able to score every night.”

On Monday the Clippers continued an unprecedented early-season scoring outburst. Since dropping their opener, they have scored 110 points or more in each of the last three games.

J.J. Redick had 26, Chris Paul had 23 points and 17 assists, Jamal Crawford had 21 off the bench, and Blake Griffin added 18 points and seven rebounds in the wire-to-wire win. Seven players in all wound up in double digits.

“We couldn’t get a handle on them at all tonight,” Rockets head coach Kevin McHale said. “They did whatever they wanted.”

It started in opening five minutes for the Clippers. They jumped out to a 20-6 lead, scoring on seven of their first 10 possessions and paving the way for a 42-point first quarter. It was likely what Rivers was thinking when he brought up the team’s potential offensive prowess.

Fourteen seconds after DeAndre Jordan out-jumped Dwight Howard, who was making his return to Los Angeles after signing with the Rockets as a free agent this summer, Paul found Redick curling around a Jordan screen for a 16-footer from the elbow. The play was something the Clippers seemingly found at will.

Redick had 15 points in the first quarter and Paul had nine assists and after a Byron Mullens layup with 30.8 seconds to go, they owned a 42-25 lead.

“I thought we did a decent job in the first quarter and the third quarter of containing guys and doing what we wanted to do [defensively],” Griffin said. “Offensively, we played with great pace, got the ball out quick, scored in transition and scored in the half-court and that’s what we want.”

Pace is a word Rivers has thrown around a lot. He wants the team pushing the ball up the floor for early offense after makes and misses and using its athletic advantage in transition as much as possible. But he also wants movement and motion. Monday’s win was a primary example of what Rivers and Associate Head Coach Alvin Gentry are looking for.

“It’s not like we’re just running, we’re running into sets,” Rivers explained. ”You can see the second actions. I thought we scored a lot on the pick and roll, the swing, the pin down and the spacing. It’s good because you can run that slow or fast, and that’s preparation for later because you’re not going to be able to get all of these breaks, but you can still run the same motion.”

NOTES

The Clippers begin a three-game road trip Wednesday night in Orlando… Crawford passed Eddie Jones for No. 15 all-time in 3-point makes. Crawford has 1,550 career 3-pointers… It was the 96th consecutive sellout for the Clippers… Griffin is 15-for-20 from the free throw line in his last three games… Howard was booed nearly every time he touched the ball. He spent most of the first half in foul trouble and finished the game with 13 points and nine rebounds… The 38 3-point attempts by the Clippers was a new franchise record… Omri Casspi led the Rockets with 19 points… Mullens went 5-for-6 from the field and finished with 12 points. His most in three appearances with the Clippers…

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