Los Angeles Clippers at Houston Rockets
Time: 7 PM CT (NBA LP)
Spread: HOU -1.5
Total: 213.5
The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Clippers are both two underachieving teams this year. The Rockets have demonstrated that fact by firing head coach Kevin McHale, but even in the wake of his departure the team is still struggling.
The 13-14 Rockets will host the Clippers in a game NBA oddsmakers are favoring the Rockets by 1.5 points.
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Houston has lost two of its last three, with the victory coming against the hapless L.A. Lakers. The losses came to two cellar dwelling teams in Sacramento and Denver, illustrating just how far the Rockets have fallen. Dwight Howard has said he is in Houston for the haul, and that he would not have signed there had he not intended to stay. Even so, Howard’s numbers have fallen off precipitously, and most are ready to attribute that fall off to the ball hogging dominance of one James Harden.
Howard is averaging the lowest scoring average since his rookie season some 10 years ago, with just 12.7 points per game. The former three-time Defensive Player of the Year is still averaging 11.8 rebounds and 2.81 blocks/steals per game, and his true value lies on the defensive end. But Howard should be attempting more than 8.3 field goals per game. All the while, Harden has attempted over 20 shots per game at just a 41.2 percent clip. He’s also only hitting 33 percent from behind the arc while attempting over eight threes per game.
Harden is as much to blame as anyone in diagnosing Houston’s struggles. But the Rockets also seem to be one card short of a contending deck, and many Rockets fans still look at the loss of Chandler Parsons as a big reason why.
While Trevor Ariza has his moments and is certainly a good defender, in Houston Parsons appeared to be on a quick ascent towards stardom. His subsequent struggles in Dallas hardly matter, given what he was doing as a Rocket. Ariza is still averaging 11.5 points per game and is certainly a better defender than Parsons, but on nights when Harden struggles, there is no 30-plus point effort by Parsons to bail the Rockets out.
In fact, the team has turned to journeyman Marcus Thornton to provide some of the scoring, but it has not been enough. Thornton is averaging 11 points per game on 43.5 percent shooting. Houston shoots just 43.3 percent as a team, and while the Rockets average 104.2 points per game, it needs more than just strong scoring efforts to contend in a weakened Western Conference.
The season is still young, but the Rockets will most certainly look to address some of its issues at the trade deadline, even if that means dealing Howard. The Miami Heat are said to be interested in his services, and it is no secret that the Rockets have coveted Goran Dragic since foolishly dealing him a few offseason ago. Dragic is underperforming in Miami, and Howard could be the missing piece to bring Dwyane Wade another title before he retires. It seems far-fetched to some degree, but often trades are, and still happen.
The Clippers seem to be turning the corner, while Houston struggles. Chris Paul and company were building serious momentum prior to last game’s 115-107 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Maybe a loss was expected, since the Spurs are still undefeated at home this season.
The Clippers put four of five starters in double figures, led by Paul’s 27 points on 8 of 14 shooting. Blake Griffin finished with 25 points, five assists and five rebounds, while DeAndre Jordan came through with 17 boards (four offensive) and 16 points. The numbers illustrate a strong effort on behalf of the Clips, but L.A. got just 20 points from its bench while the Spurs were able to get 25 points from its reserves as well as having the starting lineup shoot 34 of 61 (55.7 percent).
The Clippers shot 50 percent from the floor in the game but were negative-7 on the glass and only forced eight Spurs turnovers. San Antonio also hit 10 of 19 from three-point range as the Clips were a foot slow on most defensive rotations throughout the game. With Houston heavily reliant on the three ball, L.A. will need to be better with closing out shooters and forcing tougher looks, or Houston will prevail as NBA oddsmakers have projected.
