On Friday night, the Houston Rockets once again showed flashes of what they can be in the future. Unfortunately, they have to finish this season out first. After jumping out to a 10-point first quarter lead on the Los Angeles Clippers, the Rockets suffered another one of those horrific quarters where they can’t get any shots to fall.

Los Angeles held Houston to just 10 second quarter points as they rallied off 41 to take command of the game and cruised to a 126-109 victory in the second half.

"We need to learn that when teams pick up the pressure like the Clippers did defensively, we can't become passive,” Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said about the Clippers second quarter defense. “We have to meet force with force."

The Rockets will have no time to regroup as they head up the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco on Saturday to take on the Golden State Warriors who are also coming off of a tough loss to the Washington Wizards on Friday night.

Houston will look to get five-time All-Star John Wall back into the lineup after sitting out the game in Los Angeles which was pre-planned by the Rockets medical staff. Wall scored 31 points to lead Houston to victory on Monday night over the Dallas Mavericks to break a five-game losing streak.

This Rockets team will look a little different than the one the Warriors beat108-94 on March 17 in Houston. Newly acquired players Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley, D.J. Augustine, and D.J. Wilson will all see significant playing time against Golden State. With those new additions the Rockets have been playing faster.

“Our pace has been pretty good,” said coach Silas. “We have been getting the ball up the court quicker and getting into our drive and kick game quicker.”