LOS ANGELES • The Houston Rockets' All-Star guard Russell Westbrook has had his share of big games at Staples Centre in front of family and friends, and he probably had one of the best outings of his career on Thursday night.

The Lawndale native and former UCLA standout scored 40 points and had 10 rebounds as the Rockets rallied for a 122-117 National Basketball Association (NBA) victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

"It's fun to come in here and get a big win, but the win is the main thing," Westbrook said.

It is the most points he has scored in 45 NBA games at Staples and his 12th with 30 or more. It is also the 44th 40-point game of his 11-year career, which ties him with Karl Malone for 22nd on the career list.

"When you give so much attention to (James) Harden, you forget the other MVP (Most Valuable Player) that is on their team," Clippers coach Doc Rivers admitted.

"You have to respect him and play him the right way. We lost our discipline a lot on him tonight, especially in transition. If he gets in front of you, you're not going to catch him."

Westbrook is the first Rocket other than Harden to have a 40-point game since Kevin Martin scored 45 against Portland on Jan 5, 2011. The guard, who had 31 points against San Antonio on Monday night, is also the first Houston player besides Harden to have consecutive games with 30 or more points since Jeremy Lin in 2013.

The Rockets (19-9) too rallied from a large deficit for the second straight game.

They were down 16 three minutes into the third quarter before coming back to take the lead at the end of the period. They trailed by 25 against the Spurs before winning 109-107, marking the largest comeback in their history.

The Rockets - who have won two of three against the Clippers (21-9) this season - are 7-6 when trailing by double digits this season.

Westbrook scored 14 points during a wild fourth quarter that saw both teams lead by at least six.

The Rockets led by three at the start of the quarter before extending it to 101-89. Los Angeles went on a spurt of their own to lead 113-107 with 4min 29sec left.

Houston then closed on a 15-4 run to snap the Clippers' 10-game home winning streak.

Harden scored nine of his 28 points during the final six minutes, including a three-pointer with 2:57 remaining to put the Rockets up for good at 116-113.

"We kept plugging and the difference in the final three minutes was that James hit a few daggers and took his game to a higher level," Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said.

"(P.J. Tucker's) defence on (Kawhi) Leonard was unbelievable and Russ was really good out there all night."

Paul George led the Clippers with 34 points and Leonard added 25. Los Angeles shot 56.7 per cent from the field during the first half (27 of 48) but made just 41 per cent (16 of 39) over the final 24 minutes.

"We had a chance to knock them out and we didn't," Rivers said.

"In the fourth quarter, our problem was more of our composure. I just thought we lost it as a team. It happens. It shouldn't, but this is a good learning lesson for us."

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