Craig Smith scored a season-high 25 points and had 10 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Houston Rockets 99-93 on Thursday night to break an 11-game road losing streak.
The short-handed Rockets were without Shane Battier and Kevin Martin, who sat out because of a sore left shoulder.
The Rockets led by one point with about seven minutes remaining before Los Angeles scored five straight points to go on top 80-76. Houston hit two free throws before Eric Gordon scored five consecutive points to push the lead to 85-78.
Houston cut the lead to three points on a 3-pointer by Trevor Ariza with about two minutes left, but Smith made a free throw followed by a jump shot by Baron Davis to make it 92-86 with less than a minute remaining.
Ariza and Smith were both shaken up early in the fourth quarter after a collision as Ariza drove to the basket. Both writhed on the court for a couple of minutes before getting up and slowly heading to the bench. Ariza was called for an offensive foul on the play.
The Clippers got within four points early in the second quarter after a 12-6 run made it 28-24. Los Angeles then tied it four times in the next few minutes and finally went ahead, 42-40, on a layup by Gooden with about two minutes left in the first half. The Clippers led 44-43 at halftime.
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