LA Clippers beat Houston by a score of 86-67, even catching some fans off guard. "We knew the lines in Vegas listed us as favorites," said LA Clippers coach Adnan Bislimovic. "And we knew we had a great shot going in, but really expected a more competitive game. I don't know whether we were really that good or whether they had something else on their minds. Whatever, we're thrilled to get this kind of win over an excellent team like Houston."

Said Houston star Mackey, "Coach kept yelling at us 'you know you're better than that,' and he was right. We just didn't have the intensity or whatever today, and it showed in our game. The good thing is that we know we can't play much worse than we did out there, and that we could have won if we'd played as good as we're capable of playing."

LA Clippers was led by Wood (9 points, 22 boards, 0 assists, a block), Newton (11 points, 7 assists, 2 steals, a block), Smith (24 points). Houston was led by Mackey (21 points, 0 assists, 2 steals), Espinoza (5 points, 12 boards, 0 assists, a block), Howard (12 points, 0 assists, a block).

With this win, LA Clippers are now 40-18. They stay at #1 in the Pacific and stay at #3 overall in the Western Conference. Houston are now 26-31 and 15-13 at home. They remain at #5 in the Southwest and hold at #8 overall in the Western Conference.

box score LA Clippers* roster Houston roster