Ivica Zubac interrupted the Clippers’ regularly scheduled whose-turn-is-it-today rotation by barging in for his second big game in a row Tuesday night.
The 24-year-old center finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds (seven offensive) in just three quarters of work to lead the Clippers to a 113-100 victory over the Houston Rockets.
For their fourth consecutive victory and their sixth in seven games, the Clippers overcame a tepid first half to beat the Rockets for the third time in three tries – all since Feb. 17.
The current state of affairs for the Clippers – who, remember, are playing without injured All-Stars Kawhi Leonard (ACL) and Paul George (elbow): They’re 33-31, two games over .500 for the first time since Dec. 22, three days before George was ruled out indefinitely.
For the Rockets, their 10th consecutive loss dropped them to 15-46. Three of those past four defeats came courtesy of the Clippers, who were sparked by Luke Kennard’s eight 3-pointers in their first meeting at Crypto.Com Arena and then carried by Big Zu’s double dose of double-doubles in two games at Toyota Center, where a relatively sparse crowd of 12,949 took in the action Tuesday.
In Sunday’s 99-98 victory, Zubac posted 14 points, a season-high 15 rebounds and a career-best six blocks. As an encore Tuesday, he came through with his 18th double-double this season, and his fifth in seven games.
“It can be anybody’s night on this team and we understand that,” Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue said pregame. “They cheer for the next man up and whoever’s playing well they’re very excited. That’s been the mentality of this team for the last two years so it’s just good for us to keep carrying that mindset on and keep playing the right way and playing together.”
After the win, Lue whistled the same tune, with a nod to the Clippers’ abundance of complementary efforts: Marcus Morris Sr.’s 18 points (4 for 6 from 3-point range), Reggie Jackson’s 17 points, Brandon Boston Jr. and Terance Mann’s 11 apiece, and Amir Coffey’s 10 after halftime – right on pace with his second-half average over the past four games. Robert Covington’s seven points, eight rebounds and four blocks in 21 minutes.
“It can be someone different every single night, and the last two games, Zu’s been great,” Lue said. “Six guys in double figures, just playing the right way and just trying to get the most out of everybody we have on the floor.”
The Rockets held a 50-49 lead at halftime when neither team was shooting better than 37% from the field.
But the Clippers remembered themselves after the break and started to, well, “play the right way,” as Lue has patented the type of ball movement (nine third-quarter assists vs. eight first-half assists) that leads to good looks at the basket.
So after Houston led 56-52 with 9:46 to play in the third quarter, the Clippers took the lead 60-59 on Jackson’s 3-pointer from the top of the key and never relinquished it, building an advantage as large as 21 points.
Jackson’s next two 3-pointers were part of a 13-4 run over the next three minutes that pumped up the Clippers’ lead to 73-63 with 4:54 left – and left the Clippers’ point guard with his arms crossed over his puffed-out chest in the corner of the court, clearly pleased with the turn of events.
The Clippers outscored Houston 40-25 in the third quarter (when they shot 14 for 24 from the field) to pull away, momentum squarely on their side entering Thursday’s game, when they’ll have an opportunity to sweep the four-game season series against the Lakers.
“We are trying to win as many as we can,” said Zubac, who also had a block, a steal and two assists in 24 minutes. “The new guys, everyone (now) knows the system, we all know our goals. I don’t want to jinx it but we’ve been really healthy last few games. I feel we got into a rhythm…
“We are locked in and know what to do and we got a bigger goal in mind.”