Ivica Zubac delivers first triple-double as playoff-focused Clippers beat Rockets

It didn’t matter to the Clippers that the Houston Rockets were resting their core players. It didn’t matter to the Clippers that they were playing the second game on back-to-back nights. It didn’t matter that they are starting to feel some wear and tear from a long NBA season that’s winding down.

What mattered was “being professional” Wednesday in their approach to their final regular-season game at the Intuit Dome.

The Clippers still are playing for something and that was enough motivation during a 134-117 win over the Rockets behind another masterful game from center Ivica Zubac.

Zubac registered his first triple-double of 20 points, 11 rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. He became just the third Clippers center to post a triple-double.

Clippers center Ivica Zubac shoots over Rockets center N’Faly Dante Wednesday at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

He almost didn’t get that opportunity, because coach Tyronn Lue considered taking Zubac out with 1:06 remaining. But Norman Powell and Nicolas Batum kept telling Lue to leave Zubac in, so he did.

Then with 1:02 left, Zubac found Bogdan Bogdanovic (16 points) for a 28-foot three-pointer that gave the 7-footer his first triple-double.

“I wanted it,” Zubac said, laughing. “T. Lue wanted to sub me out, then everyone was like, ‘No, no, no.’ He asked me and I was like, ‘I’ll stay.’ I wanted it. I told Bogie ‘I’ll get it to you and you got to shoot it no matter what,’ and he did. Bogie is a big-time shot maker. So, I told him he’s never paying for dinner again. I’m glad he made that shot.”

The victory was the Clippers’ sixth straight and left them as the fifth-place team in the loaded Western Conference.

The Clippers have the same record as the fourth-place Denver Nuggets at 48-32. Though they split the season series (2-2), the Nuggets have the tiebreaker with a better conference record (30-20 to the Clippers’ 27-23) .

The Clippers have one more win than sixth-place Memphis and seventh-place Golden State with two regular-season games left — at Sacramento on Friday and at Golden State on Sunday. The Clippers can put themselves in position to get an automatic playoff berth and avoid the play-in tournament.

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“We got to keep getting better,” said Kawhi Leonard, who had 22 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

James Harden had 35 points and 10 assists and Batum had 15 points, all in the first half. Batum was four for five from three-point range but didn’t play in the second half because of right groin soreness.

Powell missed the game because of right shoulder soreness, but the Clippers overcame his absence. Perhaps most impressive was that they didn’t let up despite the Rockets sitting starters Alperen Sengun, Dillon Brooks, Fred VanVleet and Amen Thompson and sixth man Jabari Smith Jr. The Rockets have clinched the No. 2 seed in the West and essentially had nothing to play for.

The Clippers, however, had far more at stake.

“I’m the kind of guy that [says] win every game that’s in front of us and see what happens,” Zubac said. “There’s nothing to be smart about. We got to win games. Whatever happens, happens.”