HOUSTON -- James Harden, despite his repeated insistence, did a poor job convincing the media that he was indeed all right, not with the occasional cough interrupting his postgame press conference and the surprising revelation that he required intravenous fluids earlier Tuesday to combat an illness that sapped his vitality.

On the court, the Rockets guard was as convincing as ever, teaming with center Dwight Howard to deliver Houston a 124-103, series-salvaging victory over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals at Toyota Center.

Harden produced a triple-double of 26 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists while logging a postseason-high 42 minutes. Howard, meanwhile, spearheaded the interior assault with 20 points and 15 rebounds as the Rockets forced a return trip to Los Angeles for Game 6 on Thursday night at Staples Center by thriving in the paint.

Houston posted 64 points in the paint and attacked the Clippers with purpose.

"We weren't aggressive enough (earlier in the series). The first four games we were timid," Harden said. "We made a conscious effort to go in there and be in attack mode. Dwight did a good job, especially in that first quarter, of putting pressure on the rim."

The Clippers still lead the best-of-seven series three games to two. If the Rockets can even the series Thursday, a decisive Game 7 would be played Sunday back in Houston.

The Rockets matched their Game 3 total for points in the paint (36) by halftime, taking advantage of foul-plagued Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who had three fouls while logging just nine first-half minutes.

Jordan finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and only one block, and he was largely neutralized as a rim protector. Forward Blake Griffin paced the Clippers with 30 points and 16 rebounds, while guard Chris Paul added 22 points and 10 assists. The guard trio of J.J. Redick, Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers, instrumental in two blowout wins in Los Angeles, shot a combined 8-for-33, but it was the Clippers' lack of defensive intensity that greased the skids to their lackluster showing.

"The reason DeAndre was in foul trouble was because they were in the paint all game," Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. "A lot of that wasn't his fault; he was just trying to cover up for a lot of our mistakes. To me, we did a poor job of protecting DeAndre. He protects us all the time; we didn't protect him at all."

Rockets coach Kevin McHale tweaked his lineup, giving forward Josh Smith a start in place of Terrence Jones. Smith finished with nine points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Jones added 12 points and five boards off the bench.

Houston forward Trevor Ariza paired 22 points with eight rebounds, while guard Jason Terry scored 11 points and dished out seven assists.

The Rockets closed the first half with an 18-5 surge, limiting the Clippers to one Griffin layup over the final 3:35 of the second quarter. Terry hit two 3-pointers during that run, and Harden scored six points, sinking a shot with 0.3 seconds left in the half for a 63-48 advantage.

"I was just looking for us to have juice and play downhill and attack them," McHale said. "We play better when we play inside-out, attack downhill."

The Rockets led by as many as 22 points in the third quarter before Griffin paced a Clippers rally with nine points, helping cut the deficit to 83-70. The Houston bench prevented any further slippage in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles failed to mount a serious late run.

Having dominated so resoundingly in their three victories, the Clippers were aiming for a second road win in the series and some much-needed rest in advance of the Western Conference finals. Instead, the Rockets played with a vigor the Clippers surprisingly failed to match.

"We talked about it all day long before the game, coming out hungry, being the hungrier team," Paul said. "You could see they were a little more aggressive early in the game.

"All in all, they were the better team tonight."

NOTES: Clippers coach Doc Rivers was surprised by the news that the New Orleans Pelicans fired coach Monty Williams after Williams guided them through a series of debilitating injuries and into the postseason for the second time in his five seasons. "That was a shocker to me," said Rivers of the dismissal of Williams, who played for Rivers in Orlando (1999-2002). ... Clippers F Glen Davis continues to be slowed by the left ankle sprain he sustained in the opening playoff round against the San Antonio Spurs. Davis played just six minutes Tuesday night after appearing for 15 minutes total during Games 3 and 4.