GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: NBA: LA LAKERS (3-3) at HOUSTON (6-2)

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NBA LA LAKERS 71
HOUSTON 68 2:42 LEFT, 3RD QTR</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NBA LA LAKERS 75
HOUSTON 71 END, 3RD QTR</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NBA END 3RD QTR 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
LA LAKERS 25 36 14 75
HOUSTON 22 27 22 71 END 3RD QTR

HIGH SCORERS AFTER 3RD QUARTER

LAL - KOBE BRYANT 20, DEREK FISHER 11, LAMAR
ODOM 10
HOU - YAO MING 17, BONZI WELLS 13, TWO PLAYERS
WITH 9</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NBA LA LAKERS 77
HOUSTON 77 8:55 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NBA LA LAKERS 81
HOUSTON 81 6:03 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NBA LA LAKERS 85
HOUSTON 83 2:41 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NBA LA LAKERS 89
HOUSTON 86 0:24 LEFT, 4TH QTR</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NBA LA LAKERS 93
HOUSTON 90 FINAL</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">NBA FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL
--- --- --- --- -----
LA LAKERS 25 36 14 18 93
HOUSTON 22 27 22 19 90 FINAL

HIGH SCORERS: LAL - KOBE BRYANT 30, DEREK FISHER 13, LAMAR
ODOM 10
HOU - YAO MING 26, BONZI WELLS 21, RAFER
ALSTON 11</div>

 

Re: NBA: LA LAKERS (3-3) at HOUSTON (6-2)

Nice Win!</p>

 

By Gene Duffey
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Without Tracy McGrady, the Houston Rocketscouldn't keep up with the Los Angeles Lakers at the end.

Kobe Bryant scored 30 points to lead the Lakers to a 93-90victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night.


Los Angeles bounced back from a 107-92 loss at San Antonio onTuesday night, a game in which Bryant scored a season-low 18points.


The Lakers caught a break when McGrady left the game late in thefirst half with a strained right elbow and was taken toMemorial-Hermann Hospital for a MRI exam.


McGrady took two free throws with 50 seconds left in the secondquarter, making the first and missing the rim on the second. Hewalked immediately to the Rockets' bench and was escorted tothe locker room by trainer Keith Jones.


The 6-8 swingman scored nine points in 19 minutes in the firsthalf, which ended with the Lakers holding a 71-69 lead.

Houston stayed in the game in the third quarter even withoutMcGrady. Bonzi Wells, Yao Ming and Rafer Alston led a 17-4 runthat brought the Rockets within 69-68 with 4:17 to go in thethird.


The Rockets finally tied the game at 71-71 on a 3-pointer byShane Battier, who scored eight points in the third quarterafter going scoreless in the first half.


A free throw and 3-pointer by Maurice Evans gave Los Angeles a75-71 edge by the end of the third quarter.


Houston kept coming and took its first lead since the firstquarter at 83-81 on a baseline jumper by Yao with 5:43 to play.

Bryant took over from there, hitting a pair of outside jumpersand two free throws for an 89-85 lead with 1:47 to play.

The Rockets hurt themselves at the free-throw line, with Yaomissing the second of two on three straight possessions andWells clanking a pair with 44 seconds to play. They missed6-of-11 overall from the line in the final 2 1/2 minutes.

Still, Houston had a chance to tie when Yao was fouled whilemaking a layup with 1.4 seconds left to make it 93-90.

Yao missed the free throw but got the rebound and passed it toAlston, whose tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer bounced away.

Until that final basket by Yao, the only field goal scored byeither team in the final 3 1/2 minutes was Bryant's jumper with1:47 to play.


Yao scored 26 points and Wells added 21 for Houston, which lostits second straight game.

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">LA LAKERS (93) AT HOUSTON (90)

LA LAKERS

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

D FISHER G 30:34 4-7 4-4 0 1 1 2 1 1 3 13
K BRYANT G 38:27 11-23 6-6 1 7 8 5 2 1 4 30
R TURIAF F 24:14 3-5 3-4 1 5 6 0 3 0 2 9
L ODOM F 34:25 4-10 2-2 3 4 7 0 6 2 4 10
K BROWN C 28:43 1-3 0-0 0 5 5 0 3 2 2 2
V RADMANOVIC 21:23 2-6 0-0 1 0 1 1 6 1 0 6
J FARMAR 17:50 3-7 0-2 2 7 9 1 2 1 1 8
A BYNUM 17:42 1-3 4-6 2 7 9 2 4 0 1 6
L WALTON 14:50 1-4 0-0 0 1 1 3 1 0 2 2
M EVANS 10:17 2-4 2-4 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 7
C MIHM 1:35 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

TOTALS 240:00 32-72 21-28 10 38 48 14 30 8 19 93
(.444) (.750) TEAM REBS: 15 TOTAL TO: 21 (0 PTS)

HOUSTON

REBOUNDS
PLAYER POS MIN FGM-FGA FTM-FTA OFF-DEF-TOT AST PF ST TO PTS
====== === === ======= ======= =========== === == == == ===

R ALSTON G 38:11 5-13 0-1 0 2 2 7 2 1 2 11
T MCGRADY G 18:44 3-7 1-2 0 1 1 2 1 1 1 9
C HAYES F 27:53 0-0 0-0 2 5 7 1 3 3 0 0
S BATTIER F 22:42 3-9 0-0 2 0 2 0 5 1 1 8
Y MING C 36:45 6-18 14-20 7 6 13 5 4 3 1 26
B WELLS 40:32 7-19 7-12 4 6 10 2 5 2 2 21
M JAMES 20:07 2-10 0-0 1 1 2 0 4 0 3 5
L SCOLA 12:19 2-4 0-2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 4
D MUTOMBO 11:15 0-1 1-2 3 1 4 0 0 0 1 1
L HEAD 6:04 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
K SNYDER 5:28 2-2 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5

TOTALS 240:00 30-85 23-39 20 23 43 18 25 12 12 90
(.353) (.590) TEAM REBS: 12 TOTAL TO: 13 (0 PTS)

LA LAKERS 25 36 14 18 - 93
HOUSTON 22 27 22 19 - 90

BLOCKED SHOTS: LA LAKERS - K BRYANT, K BROWN, L WALTON, A BYNUM. HOUSTON -
B WELLS 3, T MCGRADY.
3-PT. FIELD GOALS: LA LAKERS 8-17 (.471), D FISHER 1-1, K BRYANT 2-
5, L ODOM 0-3, V RADMANOVIC 2-4, J FARMAR 2-3, M EVANS 1-1. HOUSTON 7-
20 (.350), R ALSTON 1-6, T MCGRADY 2-4, S BATTIER 2-6, B WELLS 0-1,
M JAMES 1-2, K SNYDER 1-1.
TECHNICAL FOULS: NONE.
FLAGRANT FOULS: NONE.
OFFICIALS: DICK BAVETTA, MARK AYOTTE, VIOLET PALMER.
A - 18,178. T - 2:41.</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">LA LAKERS (93)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
D Fisher 30:34 4-7 4-4 0-1 2 1 13
K Bryant 38:27 11-23 6-6 1-8 5 2 30
R Turiaf 24:14 3-5 3-4 1-6 0 3 9
L Odom 34:25 4-10 2-2 3-7 0 6 10
K Brown 28:43 1-3 0-0 0-5 0 3 2
V Radmanovic 21:23 2-6 0-0 1-1 1 6 6
J Farmar 17:50 3-7 0-2 2-9 1 2 8
A Bynum 17:42 1-3 4-6 2-9 2 4 6
L Walton 14:50 1-4 0-0 0-1 3 1 2
M Evans 10:17 2-4 2-4 0-1 0 2 7
C Mihm 1:35 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 32-72 21-28 10-48 14 30 93
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.444, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals:
8-17, .471 (D Fisher 1-1, K Bryant 2-5, L
Odom 0-3, V Radmanovic 2-4, J Farmar 2-3, M
Evans 1-1). Team Rebounds: 15. Blocked
Shots:4 (K Bryant, K Brown, L Walton, A
Bynum). Turnovers:19 (K Bryant 4, L Odom 4, D
Fisher 3, K Brown 2, R Turiaf 2, L Walton 2,
J Farmar, A Bynum). Steals: 8 (L Odom 2, K
Brown 2, K Bryant, J Farmar, V Radmanovic, D
Fisher).


HOUSTON (90)

fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
R Alston 38:11 5-13 0-1 0-2 7 2 11
T McGrady 18:44 3-7 1-2 0-1 2 1 9
C Hayes 27:53 0-0 0-0 2-7 1 3 0
S Battier 22:42 3-9 0-0 2-2 0 5 8
Y Ming 36:45 6-18 14-20 7-13 5 4 26
B Wells 40:32 7-19 7-12 4-10 2 5 21
M James 20:07 2-10 0-0 1-2 0 4 5
L Scola 12:19 2-4 0-2 1-2 1 1 4
D Mutombo 11:15 0-1 1-2 3-4 0 0 1
L Head 6:04 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
K Snyder 5:28 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 5

______________________________________________________
TOTALS 240:00 30-85 23-39 20-43 18 25 90
______________________________________________________

Percentages: FG-.353, FT-.590. 3-Point Goals:
7-20, .350 (R Alston 1-6, T McGrady 2-4, S
Battier 2-6, B Wells 0-1, M James 1-2, K
Snyder 1-1). Team Rebounds: 12. Blocked
Shots:4 (B Wells 3, T McGrady). Turnovers:12
(M James 3, B Wells 2, R Alston 2, D Mutombo,
Y Ming, L Scola, S Battier, T McGrady).
Steals: 12 (C Hayes 3, Y Ming 3, B Wells 2, T
McGrady, L Scola, R Alston, S Battier).

-------------------------------------------
LA LAKERS 25 36 14 18 - 93
HOUSTON 22 27 22 19 - 90
-------------------------------------------

Technical fouls: None.
Flagrant fouls: None. A: 18,178. T: 2:41.
Officials: Dick Bavetta, Mark Ayotte, Violet
Palmer.</div>

 

NBA: LA LAKERS at HOUSTON

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
NBA
LA LAKERS 93
HOUSTON 90 FINAL</div>

 

By Gene Duffey
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


HOUSTON (Ticker) - Without Tracy McGrady, the Houston Rocketscouldn't keep up with the Los Angeles Lakers at the end.

Kobe Bryant scored 30 points to lead the Lakers to a 93-90victory over the Rockets on Wednesday night.


Los Angeles bounced back from a 107-92 loss at San Antonio onTuesday night, a game in which Bryant scored a season-low 18points.


"It's a good step for us, to be able to bounce back," Bryantsaid. "I'm eternally optimistic."


"You have to be satisfied to win one," coach Phil Jackson saidof splitting the two games in Texas.


The Lakers caught a break when McGrady left the game late in thefirst half with a strained right elbow and was taken toMemorial-Hermann Hospital for an MRI exam.


McGrady took two free throws with 50 seconds left in the secondquarter, making the first and missing the rim on the second. Hewalked immediately to the Rockets' bench and was escorted tothe locker room by trainer Keith Jones.


"I've got a strained elbow and a stressed nerve, whatever thatmeans," McGrady said after returning to the locker room at theend of the game. "There is a lot of inflammation around myelbow, so right now it is day-to-day. The doctors say it willbe a week, but I don't know. We'll see.


'It's definitely good news because I actually thought it couldhave been a lot worse. I couldn't feel my fingers for a while.It was very painful. Right now I couldn't play if I tried."

The 6-8 swingman, who will be listed as day-to-day, scored ninepoints in 19 minutes in the first half, which ended with theLakers holding a 71-69 lead.


Houston stayed in the game in the third quarter even withoutMcGrady. Bonzi Wells, Yao Ming and Rafer Alston led a 17-4 runthat brought the Rockets within 69-68 with 4:17 to go in thethird. They finally tied the game at 71-71 on a 3-pointer byShane Battier.


"Sometimes that happens," Lakers guard Derek Fisher said of theRockets playing better in the second half in McGrady's absence."Instead of one player taking all those shots, they get evenlydistributed and you have a total team offense."


A free throw and 3-pointer by Maurice Evans gave Los Angeles a75-71 edge by the end of the third quarter.


Houston kept coming and took its first lead since the firstquarter at 83-81 on a baseline jumper by Yao with 5:43 to play.

Bryant took over from there, hitting a pair of outside jumpersand two free throws for an 89-85 lead with 1:47 to play.

The Lakers won the game at the foul line, making their lasteight free throws while Houston missed 6-of-11 in the final2:30.


Bryant made the only field goal in the last 4 1/2 minutes -other than a rebound basket by Yao with one second to play -when he hit a jumper from the right wing with 1:47 to go for an89-85 lead.


"That's kind of my weapon that I can go to, that fadeaway,"Bryant said.


Down by five in the final seconds, the Rockets almost tied it.Jordan Farmar was called for fouling Yao as he scored on arebound with one second left to make it 93-90.


Yao (26 points, 13 rebounds) intentionally missed the free throwand the ball ricocheted directly back to him. He quicklypassed to Alston, who missed an open 3-pointer.


"Come on, man," Farmar said of the foul call. "The ball fellinto (Yao's) lap and I was just standing there."


"I was surprised Dick Bavetta made that call, but then not whenI thought about it for a second," Jackson said. "Just to makeit a game, that's typical."


Houston coach Rick Adelman saw some good in the loss.

"It thought it was a great effort in the second half," he said."In the first half we just struggled. We just kept missing somany shots. The thing that we talked about at halftime was downat the other end, we just didn't guard them. We gave them openthrees. We just can't do that."


Wells scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half and Battierscored all eight of his points in the third quarter.

Jackson credited his reserves for helping building the Lakers'halftime lead.


"Our second unit played great the first half," he said. "Ourfirst unit came out to start the second half and wasn't ready toplay again. We just had nothing we could go to the secondhalf."


The Lakers scored only 32 points in the second half, shooting10-for-31 after hitting 54 percent in the first 24 minutes.

"Battier did a great job (defensively) and we had 14 turnovers,"Jackson of his team's offensive struggles in the second half.

"We got in one of those stretches where we were not really sharpwith our execution offensively, and I think it sets us up forpoor defense," Fisher said.


Farmar led the Lakers' second unit, scoring eight points andgrabbing nine rebounds.


"The ball bounced my way," Farmar said. "I tried to do a littlebit of everything. The 'Bench Mob,' that's what we've beendoing, bringing energy, making shots. It feels like we'replaying the right way, always making the right pass, playinggood defense, helping each other out."


Bryant, who shot 1-for-7 in the first quarter, took over thegame in the second quarter by scoring 10 points in a span of 3minutes, 38 seconds. He made five consecutive shots, all fromthe right elbow area, to propel the Lakers to a 54-38 bulge.

"I wanted to kick it up a little bit and take advantage of someopportunities that I saw developing," Bryant said said.

Bryant also added a rebound and a block on the 7-6 Yao duringhis hot streak.


"Kobe Mutombo," he laughed later.


Bryant made the most of the absence of Battier, who usuallyguards him but spent all but five minutes of the first half onthe bench with three fouls.


"He's a solid defender," Bryant said of the 6-8 Battier. "He'ssmart and utilizes his body particularly well, but he plays withhis head, too."

 

Re: NBA: LA LAKERS (3-3) at HOUSTON (6-2)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (shapecity)</div><div class='quotemain'></p>

The Lakers did everything conceivable to lose the game last night. The only savior was making our free throws late in the game.</p>

I thought the officiating was horrific in this game and completely favored the Lakers last night. Rocket fans have every right to be upset about one, Violet Palmer. It's rare to see an official make as many calls in a game she was making last night. She was making calls even when she wasn't in position to make a call. One particular call she made she was overruled and TMac had some choice words for her. All night long she was making calls very late and calling things you rarely see in a game. She called Houston for a 3 second on offense and then called them for 3 seconds on defense on the very next possession.</div></p>

The Rockets got some bad calls, but we can only blame ourselves for the loss. Like you said, the Lakers didn't play their best and there was no excuse for us to get off to such a poor start. More guys need to step up offensively and make some shots. Battier has been like the invisible man out there the last couple games.</p>

In the second half, we got back into the game with our defense. But there were too many missed open shots and missed free throws down the stretch. We deserved to lose.</p>

</p>