In comparing starters you can easily make the argument that the Clippers are better. I disagree there is a giant talent gap.

You may choose Jordan over Howard, but the numbers from last night don't make it an obvious choice.
Jordan: 10pts 13 reb 4 blk 2 st
Howard: 22pts 10 reb 5 blk 1 st

Comparing the Rockets 7-9 with Clippers 7-9 is meaningless when Clippers basically play 6, as they did last night -- add one more to that rotation when Paul is back. Rockets gave significant minutes to 8. A better matchup comparison is Griffin vs Jones & Smith as Jones only played 16min last night. Griffin wins on paper and he outplayed both last night and was clearly the best player on the court for that game. He's even learning from Harden how to jump into people -- this was my favorite last night (http://on.nba.com/1EO3r0R).

Rockets have been successful when they score in transition, shoot well enough from 3 and keep the turnovers down. Last night both teams had a lot of turnovers, but the Clippers were better at converting them into baskets. Clippers shot better from 3 on a similar number of attempts. If that trend continues it will be a short series.