Houston Rockets @ LA Clippers
Wednesday, April 9, 2025 at 10:30 PM ET
Intuit Dome, Inglewood, CA | Game ID: 22401166
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Final
LAC 36 35 34 29 134HOU 35 23 33 26 117
ESPN UpdateESPN Update
Clippers extend winning streak to 6 games with 134-117 win over short-handed Rockets
INGLEWOOD, Calif. -- — James Harden had 35 points and 10 assists and the streaking Los Angeles Clippers beat the playoff-bound Houston Rockets 134-117 on Wednesday night for their sixth straight win.
The Rockets had already locked up the No. 2 seed in the West and will be making their first playoff appearance since the 2020 bubble in Florida. They rested most of their starting lineup, including Dillon Brooks and Alperen Sengun .
Ivica Zubac had 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for the Clippers, his first career triple-double and the third by a center for the team. Kawhi Leonard returned with 22 points and 10 rebounds after sitting out Tuesday to rest his surgically repaired right knee. Nicolas Batum added 15 points, including the Clippers' first 12 of the second quarter, before leaving with a sore right groin.
Reed Sheppard led six Rockets in double figures with 20 points.
Takeaways Rockets: Jalen Green is on track to start all 82 games, which would make him the ninth Rockets player to do so in multiple seasons and first since Luis Scola in 2008-09 and 2009-10.
Clippers: Finished the regular season with a 30-11 mark in the new Intuit Dome.
Key stat The Clippers made all 19 of their free throws, with Harden going 10 for 10.
Key moment The Clippers outscored the Rockets 35-23 in the second when Zubac keyed a 12-0 run with six points and Leonard added four.
Up next Both teams play Friday night. The Rockets stay in Los Angeles to face the Lakers and the Clippers visit Sacramento.
Who is who
the initials in the Players column
HOUAH A. Holiday
CW C. Whitmore
DR D. Roddy
JG J. Green
JL J. Landale
JM J. McVeigh
JT J. Tate
JG Ja. Green
JG Je. Green
ND N. Dante
NW N. Williams
RS R. Sheppard
TE T. Eason
LACBB B. Bogdanović
DE D. Eubanks
DJ D. Jones Jr.
IZ I. Zubac
JH J. Harden
KB K. Brown
KD K. Dunn
KL K. Leonard
NB N. Batum
TF T. Flowers
HOU/LAC the team itself, not a player
-- the feed named nobody
What
What happened
the codes in the Events column
M2 / M3 made 2 / made 3
X2 / X3 missed 2 / missed 3
FT / X1 free throw made / missed
AST assist
OR / DR offensive / defensive rebound
STL steal
BLK block
TO turnover
FL foul
OF offensive foul — ends the possession
VIOL violation
JUMP jump ball
TM timeout
IR instant replay
HE heave at the buzzer, filed to the team
Where
Where a shot came from
the middle field of M3.LW.25
RM at the rim inside 4 ft
RC right corner
RW right wing
SO straight on
LW left wing
LC left corner
M3.LW.25 made 3, left wing, 25 ft
X2.RM.01 missed 2, at the rim, 1 ft
When
When it happened
the Offset column
one number per event, in the Events order:
whole seconds from the start of the
possession to that event
Events FL X3.RC.23 OR M2.RM.01
Offset 0 18 22 24
the foul opens the possession at 0s;
the putback ends it at 24s, which is
the possession's own Dur