Yao is too tall an order

HOUSTON —  The security guys were busy clearing the path to the court for the late-comer -- not that he was snubbing the often over-the-top pregame introductions -- but he was adjusting his uniform and hoping his stomach would do the same.

Baron Davis was not looking like the “rowdy little fella,” which is how teammate Al Thornton described him. Instead, he looked like a sick little fella.

Which he was.

Davis was suffering from food poisoning, forcing him to sit out the second quarter. Nevertheless, he re-emerged for the second half in what turned out to be the Clippers’ 15th loss. Houston settled in at the free-throw line and pretty much double-parked there, going 31 for 39, both season highs, as the Rockets defeated the Clippers, 103-96, Wednesday at Toyota Center.

It was Houston’s seventh straight victory against the Clippers. The Clippers trailed by one point after three quarters before Houston pulled away with an 8-2 run to start the fourth.

No one was better from the free-throw line than 7-foot-6 center Yao Ming, who made 12 of 13 free throws en route to a 24-point, 10-rebound performance for the Rockets.

Perhaps a quirky 7-footer might have helped better deal with the Yao Factor. Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy’s thoughts drifted to that certain individual, Chris Kaman, who is not on this trip because of a strained left arch

“We’ve got a guy nine inches smaller than he is, trying to guard him,” Dunleavy said. “It’s not a normal thing we probably would do. If it was a Kaman and [Zach] Randolph matchup, then Yao’s got to guard somebody in the post and get susceptible to fouls and we can attack him better than we were able to attack him at times tonight.”

Kaman, of course, would have had his hands full.

“It still is a tough task,” said Thornton, who had 24 points. “The guys tonight did a good job. It would have been a tough task. He [Yao] needs so much attention to him.”

Thornton had an idea of what Kaman was doing in his idle time.

“He’s probably hunting,” Thornton said, looking amused.

And no, Thornton won’t be joining Kaman in the deep woods. He did talk about how the Clippers would look when Kaman returned from his injury-induced layoff, now that Randolph (23 points, 11 rebounds) was settling in nicely.

“I’m curious to see how it works when the big fella gets back,” Thornton said. “It’s going to be a treat to see.”

Until then, there will be more patchwork lineups, seemingly held together by fraying thread. When an ill Davis was back in the locker room, there was this particular Clippers lineup at one juncture in the second quarter: Mike Taylor, Jason Hart, Marcus Camby, Steve Novak and Paul Davis.

Baron Davis thought he got sick from something at the team’s hotel in the afternoon, and the ill feeling came on and hit him fast. Dunleavy said that once Davis got back in the game in the second half, he didn’t want to come out.

“I thought if I sat down, it probably would have got worse,” said Davis, who had 13 points and nine assists.

“That’s what happened in the first half, I kind of sat down and the sickness kicked in. When I was in the game, I couldn’t worry about it.

“That’s why I stayed in. It was tough out there. I just wanted to try to do all I could for my teammates. I just wish I could have played a little better. We probably could have pulled this one out.”

But Thornton put the night, and the season, in the proper context, saying, “It’s tough playing uphill and trying to come back.”

Etc.

The bench disparity was nowhere near Tuesday night in Dallas, in which the Mavericks had the scoring edge, 64-7. Houston’s bench did outscore the Clippers’, 29-15. . . . Camby had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds, and had six blocked shots. . . . Novak, who was traded to the Clippers from the Rockets, played in Houston for the first time since the deal. “I felt like I was going to go the wrong locker room when I first walked in here, to be honest,” he said. Novak played nine minutes and had two points.

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