Houston had a problem on Monday night at Staples Center.
Seven different players scored in double-figures and the Los Angeles Clippers grounded the Rockets, 125-96, to keep pace with the Utah Jazz for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
Chris Paul had 19 points and nine assists in his matchup with MVP candidate James Harden.
Harden had an off-night for Houston, shooting 2-of-9 and 1-of-6 from the three-point line, finishing the night with just 14 points and six assists.
"We try to get through this as best as possible," said Harden of his off night and playing the final two games of the season with low stakes. "We want to still try to keep a rhythm up, playing with younger guys. We were trying to get Ryan Anderson back in his groove. It was basically for rhythm."
.@ChucktheCondor messes with Texas. �� pic.twitter.com/xr9zSrWb7I — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) April 11, 2017
DeAndre Jordan recorded his 40th double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Luc Richard Mbah a Moute had a rare scoring game with 15 points, and Jamal Crawford had 19 points off the bench.
Sports
Get today's sports news out of Los Angeles. Here's the latest on the Dodgers, Lakers, Angels, Kings, Galaxy, LAFC, USC, UCLA and more LA teams.
"I'm just trying to do my job," said Jordan of his performance. "Every night I just try to come out and make it tough for the opposition and limit those guys to one shot, and try to make it be a tough shot, and get guys open and just communicate."
Blake Griffin had 18 points and eight rebounds, Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass both chipped in 10 points in the victory.
Los Angeles broke the franchise record for most three-pointers in a single-season with 828 midway through the third quarter.
8️⃣2️⃣8️⃣ | Most triples in franchise history for a single-season! #LACMilestone pic.twitter.com/GdVzgC5NvJ — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) April 11, 2017
The Clippers kept pace with the Utah Jazz who upset the Golden State Warriors in Oakland on Monday. Both teams have an idential record of 50-31 with one game remaining in the season.
"We worry about us," said Jordan when asked if he was watching the Jazz-Warriors score. "We don't worry about what any other team is doing, we just want to continue to build on what we are doing, how we are playing and just continue to play well and build off of this every day and every practice day that we have."
The Clippers hold the tiebreaker for home court advantage in case both teams end the season with the same record.
Paul Pierce passed John Havlicek for 15th on the NBA's all-time scoring list with a circus shot in the fourth quarter.
Moving into the Top 15 of the @NBA scoring list like: pic.twitter.com/gk92hjdqBv — LA Clippers (@LAClippers) April 11, 2017
Congrats to @paulpierce34 of the @LAClippers on passing John Havlicek (26,395 points) for 15th on the #NBA All-Time Scoring List! pic.twitter.com/LzFo73hRTs — NBA (@NBA) April 11, 2017
Up Next:
The Clippers will host the Sacramento Kings in the last game of the season at Staples Center on Wednesday night at 7:30PM PST.
