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Sunday December 14, 2008 1:29 AM

Clippers Deal Rockets Painful Defeat


Randolph, Thornton lead L.A. to 95-82 victory

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Houston - Too much Zach Randolph. Not nearly enough offense.

Simplistic as it may seem, those two factors contributed mightily to the Rockets’ demise Saturday night in Los Angeles, as the Clippers dealt Houston (15-9) a discouraging 95-82 defeat. Randolph was the catalyst throughout, as L.A.’s burly power forward poured in 30 points while grabbing 13 rebounds.

And though the Rockets had no answer for Randolph on one end, their offensive ineptitude at the other was, perhaps, even more instrumental in their undoing. Houston tallied a mere 34 points in the second half, while shooting an anemic 35.6% from the field for the game.

And is if all that weren’t bad enough, the already-shorthanded Rockets received yet another injury scare when Rafer Alston left the game in the fourth quarter with a strained left hamstring. He’s listed as day-to-day and will be re-evaluated Monday.

“We just had a very poor second half,” said Coach Rick Adelman after the game. “We did not play well at all. We gave them life and they took advantage of it.

“It was all us, we took bad shots and there was no sharpness. It was just very poor decisions and all it did was give them energy. We played right into their hands.”

Randolph, coming off a 38-point performance Friday night in the Clippers’ double-overtime victory over Portland, was scorching right from the opening tip. He shot 6-of-7 from the field in the first quarter, on his way to a 15-point frame which helped stake Los Angeles to a 28-22 lead.

But the Rockets responded with a 9-0 run midway through the second quarter as the game turned into a back-and-forth affair for the rest of the half. It actually looked like L.A. was headed to halftime with the lead, but then Rafer Alston (8 points, 7 assists) drilled a 28-foot bomb with 1.7 seconds to go to put Houston in front and, following a Clippers turnover on the ensuing inbounds play, Tracy McGrady (19 points, 5-of-17 shooting) was sent to the line to shoot a pair of free throws after getting fouled right before the buzzer. The end result: the Rockets went into the break with a 48-45 advantage.

Houston seemed to carry that momentum into the third quarter, as the Rockets found Yao Ming (24 points, 13 rebounds) for back-to-back buckets to start the second half. But everything began to unravel on the ensuing Clipper’s possession: It started off well enough for the Rockets as Yao blocked a shot by Marcus Camby. But following the rejection, Camby’s left hand accidentally ended up striking Yao in the left eye, forcing Houston’s All-Star center to the locker room to be examined by the team’s medical staff.

From that point forward, the Rockets’ offense never regained its rhythm. Yao returned a few minutes later, but by that time Houston’s lead had been trimmed to two and the Rockets’ offense was already on the verge of a full-scale meltdown. Poor shooting, questionable shot-selection, bad turnovers – Houston fell victim to them all and the Clippers were only too happy to capitalize. L.A. proceeded to go on a 17-4 run which propelled them to a 6-point lead heading to the fourth quarter. And the final frame was more of the same, as Randolph and Al Thornton (26 points, ten in the fourth quarter) made sure there would be no Rockets’ rally.

“Missing the shots that we did really bogged us down,” lamented Shane Battier, who struggled through a 1-of-8 shooting night. “We let it effect our movement. Games like this, when we don’t move the ball and move ourselves, we normally lose.”

“The Clippers shot a pretty high percentage, a little higher than we would have liked, but our offense didn’t give us a chance to win.”

The loss snapped the Rockets 7-game winning streak against the Clippers and also dropped Houston into second place in the Southwest Division, percentage points behind San Antonio.

QUOTES

Rockets Guard Tracy McGrady

RE: Regarding Play of Yao Ming:

“It started the third quarter. We tried to get it inside to him, to get some post presence established. The ball never got to where he was going. From that point on they made runs and we just couldn’t get some sort of offense going; it was like that all night.”

Clippers Head Coach Mike Dunleavy

RE: Clippers Play in Tonight’s Game:

“I am very pleased with the way we executed offensively. Our last six quarters on defense have been great. We’re just trying to keep building off this win and continue to get more comfortable.”

RE: Play of Al Thornton

“His strength is in his athleticism and his ability to shoot the ball. He has a great ability to finish around the basket and has been very aggressive. ”

RE: Getting Chris Kaman Back

“It is going to be great. When you have a third guy like that you can rotate all three of them and add to it as well. It cuts down on the big minutes that some of our guys have to play.”

Clippers Forward Al Thornton

RE: Play of Clippers in tonight’s game:

“We were in attack mode tonight and really went for the basket. We also defended well. Yao [Ming] was off to a great start, and I think we double-teamed him effectively and forced some turnovers in their transition.”

RE: Adjusting to new teammates:

“It has been difficult and it still is difficult adjusting to playing with Mardy [Collins] and Zach [ Randolph], but I think we are getting better at it. I really think our chemistry is improving, and it shows out there on the court.”

Clippers Forward Zach Randolph

RE: Shooting outside the key:

“My three-point shot is looking good. I just make sure I work on it in practice because I am not really used to shooting threes. Other teams are expecting it more from me now, but I do my best to get a shot in over the block.”

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