It looked like the Los Angeles Clippers were on their way to an easy victory over the visiting Houston Rockets at the Staples Center on Thursday — at least in the first 24 minutes of their game.
But the script totally changed in the second half as the Mike D'Antoni coached team clawed all the way back and erased a 15-point deficit to come up with a 122-117 statement win.
Aside from picking up the impressive come-from-behind victory, the Rockets also became just the fourth team in league history team over the last 50 years to overcome a halftime deficit of at least 15 points in consecutive games, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Prior to the setback against Houston, LA had won 49 straight home games when they held a 15-plus point advantage at the half.
The two Western Conference powerhouses have developed a heated rivalry of some sort this season, as the match was emotionally charged from the opening tip till the final buzzer. Two players were ejected from the Clippers Patrick Beverley was tossed out of the ball game late in the fourth, while the usually calm Lou Williams also got ejected one minute in to the final quarter after accumulating two technical fouls for confronting an official over a call.
The Rockets, meanwhile, improved their record to 19-9 which is good for fourth place in the West. The Clips dropped to 21-9 but still holds the second spot behind the Lakers. The duo of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George had 34 and 25 points, respectively, but got outscored by Harden and Westbrook who combined for 68 points.
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