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Clippers vs Rockets Game Preview: First of a Two-Game Set
The Clippers will take on the Houston Rockets on the road, the first of two straight games against the Rockets.
Game Information
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
When: 5:00 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Derrick Jones Jr. – Terance Mann – Ivica Zubac
Rockets: Fred VanVleet – Jalen Green – Dillon Brooks – Jabari Smith – Alperen Sengun
Injuries
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Mo Bamba Out (Knee), PJ Tucker Out (Away From Team), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)
Rockets: Fred VanVleet Questionable (Hamstring), Jock Landale Doubtful (Shoulder)
The Big Picture
The Clippers are coming off a very tough loss at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, giving up 130+ points and dropping their defense from 4th to 10th in the process. Worse than the defense, however, were the turnovers, an astounding 23 in total that generated easy offense for the Thunder whenever their halfcourt offense looked stagnant. The Clippers simply have to take better care of the basketball. Missed shots are far better than turnovers – at least live ball ones – especially for a team that has a couple of slower players heading back in transition. The Clippers are more athletic and a bit younger than previous years, but they aren’t going to be a lockdown transition defense and need to really focus on avoiding easy giveaways.
The Antagonist
The Rockets have gotten off to an odd start. Predicted by
many pundits as a breakout team in the 2025 season after a surprising 41-41
record in 2024, the Rockets are 7-4, and have an excellent net rating on the
backs of the 3rd best defense and 16th best offense in
the NBA. They are, in short, very Clippers-like in being a defense-first team
that will do just enough scoring to get by. What makes them such an odd team is
that their starters have nearly all underperformed this year – Jalen Green,
Jabari Smith, Dillon Brooks, and Fred VanVleet are all shooting under 40% from
the field, with VanVleet and Smith also shooting under 30% from three. What’s
saved the Rockets is their bench, namely the twin terrors of Tari Eason and
Amen Thompson, who are long, athletic, and play at 100% effort at all times. If
VanVleet can’t go, look for Amen to start and probably guard James Harden.
Notes
Feed Zu: While Alperen Sengun is a very good player, he’s really undersized compared to Ivica Zubac. The Clippers struggled to get Zu the ball against a miniscule Thunder team on Monday and paid the price for it. They can’t continue to fail in the same ways against the Rockets, or just in general going forward – Zu is too good an option on offense for them to be unable to find him consistently. I hope they go to Zu early and often against Sengun and maybe try to get the Rockets’ best offensive player in foul trouble as a bonus.
Gang Rebounding: One thing I’ve been very pleased with this year is the Clippers’ rebounding. They rank third in NBA.com’s defensive rebound %, 10th in offensive rebound %, and 2nd in overall rebound %. Doing that while playing only one real big man in their rotation and just one other true frontcourt player in Nic Batum speaks to how good the entire roster has been at rebounding the ball. That will need to be the case again in this one, as the Rockets are the second-best offensive rebounding team in the league and rank as the third-best overall. Their wings and guards, much like the Clippers, are excellent on the glass, and will punish you for not boxing out. Hopefully the Clippers show up ready to box out and compete on the glass all night long.
Clippers vs Rockets Game Preview: First of a Two-Game Set
Robert Flom