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  Thursday, Dec. 2 10:30pm ET
Anderson's career-high 27 leads Houston
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- No overtime this time.

The Houston Rockets, who had tied an NBA record by playing three consecutive overtime games, worked a regular shift Thursday, beating the Los Angeles Clippers 109-96.

Derek Anderson, Kelvin Cato
Derek Anderson tests the defense of Rockets center Kelvin Cato.

"We played three overtime games, and last night a double overtime, then traveled," said Shandon Anderson, who scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Rockets. "I knew they were going to try to run against us early."

The Clippers, who trailed all the way, stayed close early, then made a run in the fourth quarter before the Rockets, who led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter, pulled away again.

"We started turning the ball over and missing a lot of easy shots in the second half," Anderson said. "I missed a lot of easy ones, and we just kind of lost focus for a while. But we got it back."

Houston forward Charles Barkley, $20,000 poorer for criticizing an official in Phoenix on Wednesday night, said before the game that he was going to continue to critique officials when he thought it necessary.

Fined by the NBA earlier in the day, Barkley had a solid game against the Clippers, with 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, but was just 4 of 10 from the free throw line.

Barkley said his missed free throws were part of the reason the Clippers narrowed the gap to three points with 9:07 remaining.

"I'm glad they (the Clippers) bailed me out. They kind of made it easier on us, actually," he said. "I don't think they played well. They didn't really compete against us. It was a pretty easy game."

The Rockets led 77-58 with 4:17 left in the third quarter, but the Clippers pulled to 79-71 by the end of the period, then got as close as 84-81 three minutes into the final quarter.

At that point, however, Houston reeled off a 12-2 string as Los Angeles went 3:45 without a basket.

Barkley had one mild run-in with referee Luis Grillo, late in the first half. Barkley glared at the ref and walked away with the ball after being called for a 3-second violation, and Grillo gave him a delay-of-game warning.

The Clippers, losing their fourth in a row, were led by Derek Anderson with 23 points and Lamar Odom with 22.

Asked if the Clippers were getting frustrated, Odom said, "I think so, because everybody here is competitive or they wouldn't be at this level."

The Rockets converted 22 Los Angeles turnovers into 31 points; the Clippers scored just 12 points off 18 Houston turnovers.

The Rockets, already short with Hakeem Olajuwon out for hernia surgery, also were missing rookie point guard Steve Francis, who aggravated his twisted right ankle in Phoenix a night earlier.

Game notes
The Clippers' new home, the Staples Center, hasn't been very sweet for them so far. They're 1-7 in the new building. ... The Rockets, who went 1-2 in their overtime streak, were the first team to play three consecutive overtime games since Milwaukee in December 1977. It was the 13th time it had happened in NBA history.
 


ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard

Houston Clubhouse

LA Clippers Clubhouse


NBA takes $20,000 bite out of Barkley for ref comments


RECAPS
Atlanta 110
Sacramento 100

San Antonio 96
New Jersey 94

New York 84
Milwaukee 80

Orlando 103
Minnesota 93

Dallas 101
Chicago 95

Seattle 117
Golden State 108

Houston 109
LA Clippers 96