Houston, TX (Sports Network) – Brad Miller made four three-pointers en route to 16 points off the Houston bench as the Rockets topped the Clippers, 99-78, at Toyota Center.
Kevin Martin added 16 points for the Rockets, who snapped a two-game skid. Chase Budinger scored 16 points with nine rebounds while Goran Dragic contributed 14 points, 10 boards and seven assists in the win.
Blake Griffin paced the Clippers with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Gordon scored a game-high 19 and DeAndre Jordan posted eight points but grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds in the loss, the Clippers’ third straight.
Los Angeles played without guard Eric Bledsoe, who was serving a one-game team suspension for an undisclosed violation of team rules.
With the win, the Rockets clinched a winning record. They have not been a sub-.500 team since the 2005-2006 season, and have gone over .500 in eight of their last nine years. Useless now that they can’t get to the playoffs, but they’re hardly far from it.
The Rockets will host the Mavericks on Monday as they try to play playoff speed spoiler. The Mavericks can still finish behind the Thunder for the fourth seed if they close out the year on a losing streak.