James Harden scored 35 points and Ivica Zubac added 20 in his first career triple-double as the Los Angeles Clippers continued their quest for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs with a 134-117 victory over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday at Inglewood, Calif.
Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds and Nicolas Batum had 15 points for the Clippers before departing at halftime with right groin soreness. Zubac added 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists while Harden had 10 assists for Los Angeles, which was without Norman Powell (shoulder).
The Clippers (48-32) have the same record as the fourth-place Denver Nuggets, who also won Wednesday, but Los Angeles is technically fifth because of a tiebreaker. The top four teams in each conference have home-court advantage to open the playoffs.
Reed Sheppard scored 20 points and Jeff Green added 19 for the short-handed Rockets, who rested multiple starters a day after clinching the No. 2 spot in the West. Fred VanVleet (ankle), Alperen Sengun (back), Jabari Smith Jr. (groin), Amen Thompson (rest) and Dillon Brooks (rest) all were out, while Jalen Green played just 15 minutes and scored five points.
Tari Eason scored 17 points and Aaron Holiday added 16 for the Rockets (52-28), who entered with 15 victories in their past 17 games and have two more regular-season games remaining before their first playoff appearance in five seasons.
The Clippers were up by as many as 19 points in the third quarter and took a 105-91 lead into the final period before the Rockets closed the gap. Houston opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to pull within 105-99.
Los Angeles responded with a 12-1 run to put the game away, with Leonard and Bogdan Bogdanovic (16 points) each scoring five in the stretch.
The Clippers were up by just four points with five minutes remaining in the second quarter before going on a 12-0 run to take a 64-48 lead with 2:34 remaining before halftime. Los Angeles led 71-58 at the break behind 18 points from Zubac.
–Field Level Media
