The Houston Rockets (14 - 14) defeated the Los Angeles Clippers (16 - 12) 107 - 97 on Saturday. Clippers Head Coach Doc Rivers stated multiple times in his press conferences this season that the Clippers need to improve on the defensive end of the floor, and that precise reason resulted in the loss to the Rockets. Outside of strong performances from starters Chris Paul, DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin and JJ Redick, Los Angeles sporadic bench was unable to assist the offensive end, and broke down defensively out the gate. Blake Griffin led all Clippers scorers with 22 points and the power forward pulled down eight rebounds alongside six assists on 9 - of - 13 shooting. Chris Paul scored 12 points and added 10 assists, while DeAndre Jordan provided a double - double of his own with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Rivers used all 15 players at his disposal, but the team shot 40 percent from the field and 29 percent from deep. The Clippers were coming off a blown fourth quarter lead to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday, and the second game of a back - to - back against the Rockets proved to be as daunting a task. The Dwight Howard headlines may be circulating on account of the center’s unhappiness in Houston, but the outside issues did not phase the big man as he posted 22 points and 14 rebounds on 8 - of - 11 shooting. James Harden struggled to find his stroke though the contest, but scored 18 points and dished out 11 assists in the winning effort. Ty Lawson (suspension) served his first of a two game suspension for his 2014 DUI. Trevor Ariza provided 17 points, six rebounds and three assists in 33 minutes, while Donatas Motiejunas and Marcus Thornton added double figures off the bench. Both teams play on Monday, with the Clippers returning home to face the Oklahoma City Thunder (18 - 9), while the Rockets host the Charlotte Hornets (15 - 11).
["TeamStat(G,'Rockets') has 14 Losses ,has 107 Total points ,has 14 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Clippers') has 12 Losses ,has 97 Total points ,has 16 Wins ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Blake Griffin') has 6 Assists ,has 13 Blocks ,has 9 3-pointer percentage ,has 22 Field goals attempted ,has 8 Field goals made ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'DeAndre Jordan') has 16 Assists ,has 11 Blocks ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Chris Paul') has 10 Assists ,has 29 Blocks ,has 12 3-pointer percentage ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Trevor Ariza') has 3 Assists ,has 17 Blocks ,has 6 3-pointer percentage ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'Dwight Howard') has 2 Assists ,has 11 Blocks ,has 8 3-pointer percentage ,has 22 Field goals attempted ,has 14 Field goals made ,has 2 Points ."
 "PlayerStat(G,'James Harden') has 11 Assists ,has 18 Blocks ."]