Houston • Austin Rivers scored a career-high 36 points and made six 3-pointers, and the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers withstood James Harden's second straight 51-point performance to beat the Houston Rockets 128-118 on Friday night.
The Rockets had a 14-game winning streak snapped by the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, and lost consecutive games for just the second time this season and the first since Oct. 28 and 30.
Rivers made a 3-pointer with just under three minutes to play that pushed the lead to 117-111. Ryan Anderson made two free throws for Houston before C.