Houston @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Jan 15, 2018 ) Houston 102, L.A. Clippers 113

The red-hot Houston Rockets are looking to match their season-best winning streak of 14 games when they renew their heated rivalry with the host Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. When the teams played in Los Angeles last month, the Houston trio of Chris Paul, James Harden and Trevor Ariza attempted to crash the Los Angeles locker room afterward to confront Blake Griffin (since traded) and Austin Rivers.

The Clippers' 113-102 victory Jan. 15 was contentious from the start with it being Paul's first game against Los Angeles at the Staples Center since being traded and it featured two ejections and five technical fouls in addition to the postgame incident that was thwarted by arena security. Harden is expecting a tense atmosphere in Wednesday's meeting despite the fact that Griffin is no longer with Los Angeles. "We've been playing extremely well, they've been playing well, they're fighting for a playoff seed as well," Harden told reporters. "We're fighting for the No. 1 seed, so it's going to be a playoff atmosphere in there." While Houston holds a half-game lead over the Golden State Warriors for the top spot in the Western Conference, the Clippers are streaking with nine victories in their past 12 games after rallying from a 19-point, third-quarter deficit to notch a 122-120 road victory over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, ESPN, AT&T Sports Net Southwest (Houston), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)

ABOUT THE ROCKETS (47-13): Harden missed the mid-January loss to the Clippers because of a hamstring injury but recorded 51 points and eight assists in a 128-118 loss to Los Angeles on Dec. 22. Harden, who leads the NBA with a 31.4 scoring mark, is averaging 32.5 points during Houston's winning streak and has topped 40 three times, including posting the first 60-point triple-double (11 assists, 10 rebounds) in NBA history against the Orlando Magic on Jan. 30. Power forward Luc Mbah a Moute was a surprise star in Monday's 96-85 victory over the Utah Jazz when he scored 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting.

ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (32-27): Los Angeles moved into eighth place in the West by one percentage point over Denver with its victory Tuesday. Shooting guard Lou Williams scored 25 points to continue his torrid stretch that has seen him score 20 or more points in 26 of the past 29 games, including outings of 32 and 31 against Houston. "We understand the position we are in," Williams said of the team's situation after Tuesday's victory. "We've got to just give ourselves the opportunity to go out there and win games. We can't afford to go out there and drop them on bad effort. If we lose a game on good effort, I think we can live with that and move on."

BUZZER BEATERS

1. The Clippers are 2-0 against the Rockets this season and have won the past three meetings.

2. Los Angeles F Danilo Gallinari (hand) will likely miss his third straight contest.

3. Houston's 14-game winning streak earlier this season started Nov. 16 and ended with a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 20.

PREDICTION: Rockets 128, Clippers 119