Once Barkley Gets Going, It Gets Tough for Clippers

HOUSTON —  Houston Rocket forward Charles Barkley muttered obscenities to himself as he stood at halfcourt in Tuesday night’s game against the Clippers.

Disappointed with the way he had played, Barkley pounded his head with his left fist.

It must have motivated him.

Barkley, who took only two shots and scored eight points in the first half as Houston fell behind by five points, finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds to help the Rockets hand the Clippers their ninth loss in 11 games, 116-109, before 16,285 at the Compaq Center.

Barkley, however, was impressed with the Clippers, who led by nine points in the third quarter.

“They’ve got a nice little future developing,” Barkley said. “That [Maurice] Taylor kid [21 points] can definitely play and that [Keith] Closs kid [six points, three rebounds] can play.

“It’s just a matter of them getting enough leaders. They need some leaders. Somebody needs to step up and push them every night and make them use all their talent.

“There’s really no veteran on their team that can be a leader for them. That’s what they’re missing.”

Barkley said the Rockets, 14-16 without injured center Hakeem Olajuwon, have had trouble putting teams away.

“Man, we can’t blow nobody out,” Barkley said. “Nothing surprises me.”

The Rockets, who led by two points with 10 minutes left in the game, outscored the Clippers, 22-12, in a seven-minute spurt.

“We looked like a pathetic team in the first half,” said guard Clyde Drexler, who had 17 points and seven assists. “We were really tired playing the second half of back-to-backs, but in the second half we came back and did the things we were supposed to do.”

Barkley had seven points in the fourth quarter, making five of eight free throws. The Rockets made nine of 15 free throws in the fourth quarter while the Clippers made both free throws they took.

“There’s like a six-minute spurt in every game where we seem to fall behind,” said Clipper swingman Eric Piatkowski, who had 22 points. “They went up 10 quick points on us. With a veteran team like Houston, it’s really tough to get back in it, especially in the fourth quarter.

“If you don’t do a good job doubling Barkley, he’s going to kill you down there. He was finding the open guys.”

The Rockets, who shot 42.9% in the first half, shot 60.5% in the second half.

The Rockets also were more physical than the Clippers.

Clipper center Stojko Vrankovic needed five stitches to close a cut on his upper lip after he was accidentally hit by Rocket center Kevin Willis as they battled for a rebound with 8:29 left in the third quarter. Vrankovic returned with 7:01 left in the game.

Clipper forward Rodney Rogers fouled out with 5:32 left in the fourth quarter and forward Lamond Murray, who had 14 points and a season-best 10 rebounds, played only 14 minutes in the second half because of foul trouble.

The Clippers were careless, committing 11 of their 20 turnovers in the fourth quarter.

“I just told my team, ‘I wish we had a shot for every time we fumbled the ball or had a turnover,’ ” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “That was the most aggravating part of the game for me.

“We were in foul trouble all night and I think the guys played a little soft.”

The Clippers were coming off their most embarrassing loss of the season, Saturday’s 18-point defeat against the Denver Nuggets, a team on pace to finish with the worst record in NBA history.