The Houston Rockets (3-0) and Los Angeles Clippers (2-1) are living up to their heavyweight reputations in the Western Conference in the early going of the 2013-2014 season heading into tonight's 10:30 p.m. ET showdown at Staples Center in L.A. Live stream the game here; Rockets fans can check out the radio broadcast on Sports Radio 610, while Clippers fans can do the same on KFWB 980 AM.
Tonight's clash figures to be decided by the big men, as Dwight Howard will need to be Superman to combat the twin powers of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. Howard, who carried his doubters to Houston this offseason, appears to be free and clear of the injuries that plagued him last season.
"He's definitely moving around a lot better than he was last year," Jordan said. "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 focus might be on the battle of the bigs, but Chris Paul has kicked off the new season in MVP fashion with three straight double-doubles. "I came out a little slow and tried to let the game develop, but I can't be that way. I have to be more aggressive," he said. "I'm one of those people that let my teammates get me going, and I need that. (Coach) Doc (Rivers) talks to me about it but it's my teammates that help me."
Chris Paul will be matched up with Jeremy Lin, which is a huge mismatch on paper. Lin's specialty is offense, however, and he will be part of a group attacking a Clippers defense that's surrendering 110 points per game.
"The past couple of games we've played our defense and everybody in here knows what that means and I think it's working," Paul said. "We've still got a ways to go but we're building."
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