Having three days off allowed the Clippers to get some much-needed rest and a mental refresh after a slew of tough games.
But the time off didn’t make the Clippers whole.
With team leader James Harden and key role player Amir Coffey unable to play, the Clippers couldn’t keep up with the Houston Rockets in a 117-106 loss Sunday night at the Intuit Dome.
The sore right groin that kept Harden out of his first game this season meant the Clippers didn’t have their second-leading scorer (21.6) and leading rebounder (6.8), assists (8.5) and minutes-played (33.