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 "At this point, there's nothing I can do about it," Jordan said.
"I've moved on. It's cool."
Jordan scored 24 points and grabbed 20 rebounds, and the Clippers
continued their recent dominance of the Houston Rockets with a
110-95 victory Wednesday night at Staples Center.
It was the third game in the last six Jordan produced at least 20
points and 20 boards. His latest performance got Rivers going again,
particularly when injured New Orleans Hornets center Anthony Davis
was replaced on the West All-Star squad by Dallas Mavericks forward
Dirk Nowitzki on Wednesday.
"There has never been a team that won a championship without a
decent defensive team or a great defensive team," Rivers said. "The
defensive side is always forgotten in the All-Star Game. I think
they should include the best defender. They include the best
offensive player every year. They should include the best defensive
player every year from the Eastern Conference and the Western
Conference. That will solve it."
The Rockets had no answer for Jordan despite intentionally fouling
and sending the Clippers center to the line 16 times in the fourth
quarter. Jordan made just seven of those attempts and finished 12 of
26 overall on foul shots, but his impact on the outcome was greater.
He hit six of eight field-goal attempts.
 "We were able to hang in, but I don't think we played particularly
well," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "We got down and started
hacking DeAndre to see if we could get back. We had a lot of open
shots that we didn't make."
Forward Jamal Crawford and guard J.J. Redick scored 20 points apiece
for the Clippers, who defeated the Rockets (36-17) for the sixth
consecutive time. Point guard Chris Paul finished with 12 points and
12 assists. Forward Spencer Hawes also scored 12 for Los Angeles
(35-19).
Forward Corey Brewer came off the bench to score 22 points for
Houston, while forward Josh Smith added 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Rockets guard James Harden, who was coming off back-to-back outings
of 40 and 45 points, struggled again against the Clippers, managing
just nine points on 3-of-12 shooting and missing all seven of his
3-point attempts.
Harden, the league's leading scorer, entered the game averaging 18.6
points per game in the last five meetings against Los Angeles. He
has been held under 20 points in five of his last six contests
against the Clippers.
"This was a tough one," said Harden, who failed to score in double
figures for only the third time this season and ignored questions
about his struggles against the Clippers. "We had several
opportunities to put ourselves in a position to win the game. We
didn't knock down shots, we gave up a lot of points defensively, and
we couldn't recover from that."
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The Clippers took control early in the fourth, opening the quarter
with a 9-2 surge for a 89-81 lead after a 3-point basket by Crawford
with 9:11 remaining in the game.
They stretched the margin to 100-88 after three free throws by
Crawford with 4:47 left. Houston, despite resorting to intentionally
fouling Jordan, a 41 percent foul shooter entering the game, failed
to get any closer than 10 the rest of the way.
It was the Clippers' third game without All-Star forward Blake
Griffin, who is expected to miss at least three weeks after having
surgery on his right elbow. Without Griffin, who watched the game
from the bench in street clothes, the Clippers are 2-1.
The Rockets held a 56-54 lead at the half. They hit 53.5 percent of
their shots compared to 44.2 percent for the Clippers. Redick led
all scorers with 14 points at the break.
Overall, Los Angeles connected on 48.1 percent of its shots to 39.1
for Houston.
NOTES: Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he was a huge admirer of the
late Jerry Tarkanian, the 84-year-old former UNLV coach who died
Wednesday after dealing with a variety of health issues. "I just
always loved his spirit," Rivers said. "I've always been a big
'Tark' fan. I never felt like he got his due." ... Houston F
Terrence Jones missed his second straight game with flu-like
symptoms. ... The Clippers won the initial encounter with the
Rockets 102-85 in Houston on Nov. 28. ... Both clubs are off until
after the All-Star break. The Clippers resume play Feb. 19 against
the San Antonio Spurs at the Staples Center. The Rockets visit the
Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 20.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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