Game 19 Preview: Rockets come to town

LA CLIPPERS (8-10) vs HOUSTON ROCKETS (9-8)

Where: Staples Center

When: Wednesday, December 2 @ 7:30pm

TV: Prime Ticket / Radio: KFWB980AM and 1330AM in Spanish

Clippers: 2-game win streak, 4th Pacific Division, 11th Western Conference

Rockets: 1-game win streak, 3rd Southwest Division, 8th Western Conference

Clippers Chat: They were down big to the Grizzlies and were able to pull off a 20 point 4th quarter deficit in their last game to give Mike Dunleavy his 600th win as an NBA coach. Eric Gordon led the team with 29 points and looked like he was back to his speedy ways. Gordon was out for 8 games with a strained groin. The Clippers are trying for their fourth straight home win. Something they haven’t done since March of 2007. It will be a tough go to beat the Rockets as the Clippers have lost 10 out of the last 12 games they have played. Their last win against the Rockets was their last meeting Decemer 13, 2008. Chris Kaman better get his post game back as he has been dwindling in production for the past 2 weeks and only scored 8 points in the last game. The Rockets are not a tall team and one of their better players Luis Scola is out with an eye injury.

Rockets Report: Coming off a win against the Thunder, the Rockets have been floating around the .500 mark which is better than what most thought they would do without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. The Rockets have one of the shortest front lines (center is 6′-9″) but make up for that by playing hard and hustling on both sides of the floor. PG Aaron Brooks (16.3) and SF Trevor Ariza (18.2) lead the team in scoring while Luis Scola leads in rebounds (9.3). With Scola possibly out with the freak eye injury Carl Landry will start in his place.

Game Chat: The Clippers better be ready to match the energy that the Rockets play with. They are a hard team to put away as they scramble on every play. If the Clipper Bigs can dominate the paint and the forwards can play better than what they did against the Grizzlies (combined for only 15 points), the Clippers should be able to inch closer to .500. Aaron Brooks and Eric Gordon should cancel each other out in the speed department but with his lack of size both Baron Davis and Gordon should post Brooks up as often as possible.

Tags: Aaron Brooks, Baron Davis, Carl Landry, Chris Kaman, Eric Gordon, Luis Scola, Mike Dunleavy, Tracy McGrady, Trevor Ariza, Yao Ming