LOS ANGELES — The Clippers weren’t going to be able to mentally check out for the All-Star break early on Thursday night, not with the famously intense Patrick Beverley seated courtside at Crypto.com Arena for their highest-scoring game of the season in a 142-111 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Rocking Ivica Zubac’s blue No. 40 jersey, the former Clippers linchpin – now a valued veteran on the Minnesota Timberwolves’ roster – started his few-day respite in L.A., cheering on his former teammates, none of them more than the center who was his next-locker neighbor for three seasons.

Zubac’s every score – he finished 6 for 10 for 13 points to go with 10 rebounds – got Beverley out of his seat and applauding.

He held a running dialogue with Reggie Jackson, narrating his 12-point, 14-assist double-double – a season-high (and Clipper-tenure high) number of assists and his most since Dec. 26, 2017.

Marcus Morris Sr. poured in a team-high 27 points, slapping hands with Beverley after a particularly pretty jumper. And Terance Mann focused his gaze on Beverley as he ran back upcourt after draining the 17th and 18th of his 20 points.

And in the NBA’s final order of business before the All-Star break, Ohio native Luke Kennard warmed up for Saturday’s 3-point contest in Cleveland by draining a career-high eight shots from beyond the arc en route to 25 points in 23 minutes.

Kennard joined Paul George and JJ Redick as the only players in team history with three games in a single season with at least seven 3-pointers, and he became one of only seven Clippers ever to make at least eight in a game.

Six of those 3-pointers came in the second quarter, and from as deep as 34 feet, which established Kennard’s career-best for a half – and helped him to 19 points in those 12 minutes of play.

The Clippers’ 71 first-half points represented a season-high for the team and gave them a 12-point advantage in a defensively averse first 24 minutes.

The young Rockets (15-43) shot 51.2% overall and 43.8% from 3-point range before intermission – which might have been an issue if the Clippers didn’t go into the break shooting 58% overall and 63.2% from behind the arc.

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The Clippers (30-31) didn’t cool off much after halftime, putting up another 36 points in the third quarter, when they managed to hold Houston to just 20 points.

The Clippers’ lead ballooned to as many as 38 points in a game that might have felt something like whiplash: Coach Tyronn Lue’s team was facing the team with the NBA’s worst record two nights after they’d fought valiantly in a 103-96 loss to the league-leading Phoenix Suns (48-10).

The Rockets, coincidentally, were coming off their own narrow loss in Phoenix – a 124-121 defeat on Wednesday.

Amir Coffey and Isaiah Hartenstein both had 13 points for the Clippers, who shot 54.9% for the game, including 51.4% (18 for 35) from deep. They scored at least 35 points in every quarter.

More to come on this story.