The Houston Rockets play the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. Tipoff is at 10:30 p.m. ET. Watch the live stream by following the link HERE.
Houston (3-0) looks to remain undefeated when they visit Staples Stadium on Monday. Dwight Howard, now a full season removed from back surgery, has been a monster on the boards. He's averaging 17.0 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 15.0 points per game.
"He's definitely moving around a lot better than he was last year," Clippers center DeAndre Jordan told the team's official site, via ESPN. "I feel like he slimmed down a lot. I was watching a couple of their games and you can just tell that last year was still a little stiff and his back was giving him some problems. Hopefully, he'll be back to the 2010-2011 Dwight and that will be better for the league."
The Clippers (2-1), meanwhile, have bounced back from an opening season lost to the Lakers and have won two straight. The Clippers look more confident, and while there's certain to be more bumps in the road, coach Doc Rivers' long-held emphasis on team defense appears to be showing - most recently with the 24 forced turnovers against the Golden State Warriors, including 11 from Stephen Curry.
"The past couple of games we've played our defense and everybody in here knows what that means and I think it's working well," Clippers star Chris Paul said. "We've still got a ways to go but we're building."
Jordan addd: "The three games we've had all felt like playoff games with the crowds and just how the intensity is and the atmosphere. It's been great. We can only build from this."
