Tonight at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN the Los Angeles Clippers (37-20) will take on the Houston Rockets (38-18) at the Toyota Center in an important Western Conference clash that can be live streamed free by clicking this link. Clippers fans can listen to the radio broadcast on KFWB 980, while Rockets fans may do likewise on Sports Talk 790.
The Clippers are coming off a brutal loss in which they fell to the Memphis Grizzlies at home despite a 30-point, 10-assist outing from point guard Chris Paul. They'll need another effort like that if they hope to keep up with MVP candidate James Harden of the Rockets.
"James is one of the few guys in the league that you can't just guard with one person," Paul said of Harden. "He's like (Russell Westbrook, LeBron James and Kevin Durant). He can score in so many different ways, so you have to defend him with the entire team."
Harden's triple-doubles have become more frequent; he's known as a scorer first, but setting up teammates has made Houston's offense deadly, and kept them winning despite frequent absences from center Dwight Howard.
"When I get my teammates confident to shoot their shots and be aggressive and get them in their rhythm, I can get into mine and that makes everything easy," Harden said.
The Clippers need to regain confidence following a season-low 87 points in the loss to Memphis, in which 30 points came from one player. They shot just 44 percent from the field as a team, which will need to improve without Blake Griffin available to score in the post.
"Without Blake ... we're going to be more of a jump-shot-shooting team right now," coach Doc Rivers said. "I would've liked to drive the ball more."
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