An avalanche of three-pointers poured down on the Clippers, overwhelming them in an astounding way.
It was with so much force that the Clippers meekly lost, 122-103, to the three-point tossing Houston Rockets on Wednesday night at Staples Center.
But perhaps what’s most telling is how the Clippers are 1-3 since the All-Star break.
The losses have come to Golden State, San Antonio and Houston, the top three teams in the Western Conference, respectively.
And the Clippers have been defeated by an average of 12.3 points per game against those three top-notch opponents.
In the middle of all this, the Clippers remained in fifth in the Western Conference, half a game behind the Utah Jazz, who lost at home Wednesday night. The Clippers are six games behind the third-seeded Rockets in the West.
“Without making excuses, we’re still getting right,” Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said. “We just got our two guys [Chris Paul and Blake Griffin] back. It’s going to take a little bit of time. … But that does not excuse how we played tonight. They out-toughed us tonight. They were the more driven team and that bothers me.”
The Rockets lived up to their billing as the NBA’s premier three-point shooting team in attempts (40) and makes (14.6).
They unleashed a barrage of them on the Clippers, rendering whatever defense L.A. tried to play useless under Houston’s attack that put the Clippers in a 31-point hole.
The Clippers looked in disbelief watching the Rockets shoot 38.5% (20 for 52) from three-point range — even as Houston let up when the game was out of reach.
When Lou Williams grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed Patrick Beverley three-pointer and scored for a 108-78 Rockets lead at the end of the third quarter, the fans booed the Clippers’ lack of effort and some departed the arena.
Ryan Anderson went six for 11 from three-point range and scored 23 points.
James Harden was four for nine from three-point range, scoring 26 points. He also had nine assists.
Photos from the Clippers’ 122-103 loss to the Houston Rockets on March 1, 2017.
Beverley had 14 points, 12 coming on his four-for-eight three-point shooting. Eric Gordon came off the bench to score 14 points, nine coming on his three-for-nine three-point shooting.
“We knew we needed to take them off the three-point line,” Paul said. “We gave up too many threes tonight.”
There was so little positive for the Clippers to take out of this game.
They were outrebounded, 62-36.
Griffin, after a long review by the officials, was called for a flagrant foul 1 for his elbow to the throat of Clint Capela in the third quarter.
This happened as Griffin leaped in the air and tried to make a pass, but his elbow struck Capela in the head area, drawing the flagrant foul. Griffin finished with 17 points on seven-for-17 shooting.
Later in the third quarter after missing a shot, Paul was hit with a technical foul. He finished with 16 points and 11 assists.
“I thought they played harder,” Rivers said. “They were the tougher team tonight. They were the more physical team tonight, which you don’t say a lot with them. They killed us on the glass. They made extra efforts.”
broderick.turner@latimes.com
Twitter: @BA_Turner
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