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Rockets beat Clippers behind Miller's threes

Apr 10, 2011 - 4:21 AM Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Brad Miller made four three-pointers en route to 16 points off the Houston bench as the Rockets topped the Clippers, 99-78, at Toyota Center.

Kevin Martin added 16 points for the Rockets, who snapped a two-game skid. Chase Budinger scored 16 points with nine rebounds while Goran Dragic contributed 14 points, 10 boards and seven assists in the win.

"I'm just really proud of our team," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "We caught a team that was tired. (The Clippers have) been on the road and playing some tough games but we were missing two starters and our guys stepped up."

Blake Griffin paced the Clippers with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Gordon scored a game-high 19 and DeAndre Jordan posted eight points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds in the loss, the Clippers' third straight.

"We just couldn't put the ball in the basket," Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said. "Blake (Griffin) was dead as were some of our other guys. Houston got a lot of rebounds and we kept missing shots. We didn't pressure Houston like we should have."

Los Angeles played without guard Eric Bledsoe, who was serving a one-game team suspension for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

Trailing 53-37 at the half, the Clippers cut their deficit to as low was 63-51 in the third. Budinger connected on a turnaround bank-shot with 5:12 remaining to start an 11-4 run to close out the quarter.

The Rockets shot only 45 percent from the field in the third and took an 74-55 lead into the final stanza.

The game was never in contention in the fourth.

Martin paced the Rockets with 10 points in the first quarter as Houston took a 25-18 lead into the second. Houston widened its lead to as high as 22 in the second quarter and held a 53-37 lead at the break.

Game Notes

Luis Scola (knee) and Kyle Lowry (foot) both missed the game for the Rockets...Houston grabbed a season-high 58 rebounds...Miller's four three- pointers were a career-high...Dragic's 10 rebounds were a career- high...Houston will host the Mavericks on Monday before finishing the season at Minnesota on Wednesday...The Clippers will cap their season with a visit to the playoff- bound Grizzlies on Wednesday.