HOUSTON _ As soon as Clippers forward Paul George grabbed the defensive rebound with 6 minutes remaining in the third quarter Thursday, Ivica Zubac began sprinting the other direction.
When George passed ahead to Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers' center kept going. Leonard found Zubac with a pass and the 7-footer responded with a fast-break dunk on the head of Houston star James Harden.
Instead of a celebration, Zubac turned around and sprinted back on defense inside Toyota Center, stationing himself under the rim. There, 12 seconds after his dunk, he jumped with his arms straight above his head, and denied a shot by the incoming Russell Westbrook to preserve a 26-point lead. The stretch by the big man, in a game in which he easily could have been deemed unplayable against the small-ball Rockets, brought his Clippers teammates out of their seats.
The Clippers' 120-105 rout of Houston was many things: a sixth consecutive victory, a defensive showcase for three quarters and another muscular step toward the postseason. The beat-down was worse than the score indicated, as the Clippers (43-19) led by as many as 29 points.
It was also evidence of Zubac's progress.
The young center spent his offseason motivated by the memory of being yanked out of the starting lineup during last season's playoffs, when he was unable to keep up with Golden State's small-ball lineup.
Against the most extreme version of small-ball seen in the NBA on Thursday, he showed he belonged, with 17 points and 12 rebounds in 20 minutes. Zubac made all six of his shots, five of his six free throws and anchored a defense that kept the Rockets _ whose lineup has thrown opponents in disarray for the past month _ one step behind.
Houston (39-22) shot its way out of the game, making only seven of its 42 3-point attempts. Westbrook finished with 29 points, but took 27 shots. Harden, the NBA's leading scorer, finished with 16 points.
Kawhi Leonard scored a team-high 25 points to lead six Clippers in double-figure scoring. The Clippers made 46% of their shots.
