The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Clippers dominate Rockets
LOS ANGELES » The Clippers weren’t going to be able to mentally check out for the All-star break early Thursday, not with the famously intense Patrick Beverley seated courtside at Crypto. com Arena for their highest-scoring game of the season — a 142-111 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Rocking Ivica Zubac’s blue No. 40 jersey, the former Clippers linchpin — now a valued veteran on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ roster — started his few-day respite in L.A., cheering on his former teammates, none of them more than the center who was his next-locker neighbor for three seasons.
Zubac’s every score — he finished 6 for 10 for 13 points to go with 10 rebounds — got Beverley out of his seat and applauding.
He held a running dialogue with Reggie Jackson, narrating his 12-points, 14-assist double-double — a season-high (and Clipperstenure high) number of assists and his most since Dec. 26, 2017.
Marcus Morris Sr. poured in a team-high 27 points, slapping hands with Beverley after a particularly pretty jumper. And Terance Mann focused his gaze on Beverley as he ran back upcourt after draining his 17th and 18th points of his 20.
And in the NBA’S final order of business before the All-star break, Ohio native Luke Kennard warmed up for Saturday’s 3-point contest in Cleveland by draining a career-high eight shots from beyond the arc en route to 25 points in 23 minutes.
Kennard joined Paul George and JJ Redick as the only players in team history with three games in a single season with at least seven 3s, and became one of only seven Clippers ever to make at least eight 3s in a game.
Six of those 3s came in the second quarter, and from as deep as 34 feet, which established Kennard’s career-best for a half — and helped him to 19 points in 12 minutes of play.
The Clippers’ 71 first-half points represented a seasonhigh for the team, and gave them a 12-point advantage in a defensively averse first 24 minutes.
The young Rockets (1543) shot 51.2% and 43.8% from 3-point range before intermission — which might have been an issue if the Clippers didn’t go into the break shooting 58% and 63.2% from deep.
The Clippers (30-31) didn’t cool off much after halftime, putting up another 36 points in the third quarter, when they managed to hold Houston to just 20 points on a relatively pedestrian 45.6% (31 for 68) and 33.3% (9 for 27) from deep.