<div align="center"> </div> <div align="center"><font color="Purple">Los Angeles Lakers </font> (38-21) @ <font color="Red">Houston Rockets </font> (34-25) </div> <div align="center">Time: 6:00 p.m. PT Location: Toyota Center TV: ESPN</div> Season Series: Rockets 2, Lakers 0 12/25/03 Rockets 99 Lakers 87 2/11/04 Rockets 102 Lakers 87 Previous Games: Lakers @ Hawks 94-93 L Sonics @ Rockets 97-80 L Last 10 Games: Lakers 7-3 (Lost 1) Rockets 6-4 (Lost 1) Head Coaches: Phil Jackson/Jeff Van Gundy Probable Starters: Gary Payton/Steve Francis Kobe Bryant/Cuttino Mobley Rick Fox/Jim Jackson Slava Medvedenko/Kelvin Cato Shaquille O'Neal/Yao Ming Sixth Men Derek Fisher/Maurice Taylor Injury Report Lakers Karl Malone Jamal Sampson Rockets Mike Wilks <div align="center">Players To Watch </div> <div align="center">Shaquille O'Neal & Yao Ming</div> <div align="center">O'Neal: 21.4 pts, 10.80 rebs, 3.0 assists, .45 steals Ming: 16.8 pts, 8.80 rebs, 1.6 assists, .25 steals </div> Keys To The Game <u>Lakers</u> Give Shaq more touches and allow him to have his revenge from being outplayed last meeting Give Kobe the ball, allow him to penetrate, and make better shot selections Allow Payton to improve on his triple-double and spread the ball to other teammates Defense, defense, DEFENSE! <u>Rockets</u> Get Yao the ball, and allow him to outplay Shaq like he did in the second meeting Control and maintain the glass, and try to get second shot opportunities Allow Steve Francis to get in a rhythm early and keep his team in the game at all times Use their transitional game to their advantage because the Lakers are definitely fatigued from the Hawks game last night Laker Fever's Prediction The Lakers always have trouble coming off back-to-back games on the road, and they either lose in nailbiters or completely get themselves out of the game. However, since Shaq clearly was outplayed by Yao, I feel Shaq would like one more crack at it, and he'd want to demand the ball at all times. I expect him to touch the ball more than 40 times, and I expect him to do some serious damage tonight. Lakers by 6.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Laker_Fever_834:</div><div class="quote_post"> Defense, defense, DEFENSE![/I] </div> Dear lord... Rockets by 4. (I want the Lakers to win, but I don't think they will.) We all know that the Lakers don't know defense.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kobe Krazy:</div><div class="quote_post">We all know that the Lakers don't know defense.</div> i still take lakers on this game, maybe by 2. kobe and gary knows defense but the others don't. shaq? hmmm... let's see how he handles yao tonight. yao made a statement on their last meeting. rick need to make basket, he has been missing open shots. george? ummm... never mind
The Rockets have beat us twice this year, I think Shaq will be pissed, Kobe will be hungry, and Payton will want to show Steve Francis up..Lakers by 4
Rockets by 5. I predict for everyone on LA except Kobe to miss key free-throws down the stretch while the fatigue from the Hawks game allows Francis to get some easy buckets to maintain the lead.
I hope the Lakers and think by at least 6. Defense. I dont think that they teach them that in LA but still Shaq wants his revenge and I have a feeling that this would be his night.
Lakers by 5 as Shaq throws down every f-ing dunk after another! I am still pissed about the loss to the dang Hawks, but I have faith that with Kobe playing, the Lakers will win.....at least they better win!
Kobe has 7assists in 10minutes so far... 6points on 3/4 shooting and 3 rebounds to go along with that. Anyone see him setting screens for GP? That's great to see, its about time we started setting screens.
Man, this game is disgusting for the Lakers in the first half. It's the same damn problems every game. Rockets broke out their shell and made a big 2nd quarter run. Shaq in foul trouble has killed us so far, so we have to find other ways to contain Yao. However, Houston has got way too many easy looks, and points in the paint. Lakers have to do a better job of defending those areas, if they wanna have a shot at this one. <u>Halftime</u> Houston 53 Los Angeles 43
Thanks for the 3's Walton, but that turnover did not help us at all. KOOOOOOOOOOOOBE... Man did he force that, was about to go crazy if he didn't make it. That is just another shot to show how clutch Kobe is. Still a game though, I feel the Lakers should have already had this locked down. Missed oppourtunites on loose balls.
I think its safe to say that Yao may end up a better player then Shaq. Hell, I think Yao is... personally, but that is a personal opinion. This guy can knock down 15-footers with ease, and he actually makes his free-throws... damn well, he's been dominating Shaq constantly. Poor shooting by Kobe, but other then that, excellent game. Very unselfish but still selfish at times... but hey... everyone has the right to get selfish when they need to be. Overall, the game was disgusting. Nearly put me to sleep at 10 P.M.
That was a great shot off of terrible shot selection by Kobe, but I suppse he was going 2-for-1. Good win by the Lakers, and a great game to watch.... Shaq after the game claimed Yao is 7'8'' lol.... btw...Shaq's foul shooting is horrible...omg, i dunno what his line was but i could shoot better blindfolded....
What a game....right when it seemed like Houston was going to run away with it, Lakers continued to hit clutch hots and bucked down on defense for a few stops. Shaq was key down the stretch, but Kobe, GP, and Walton were the ones who kept us in the game in the final 2-3 minutes in the 4th. Payton hit the huge three, as Walton followed with two of his own, and then Kobe of course, with the clutch J to give them the lead with about 40 seconds left. Though we did miss out on a lot of oppourtunites as far as loose balls, and dumb fouls, we should still get credit for playing the hard 4th quarter, what a great comeback. Big confidence booster, finally won a game on the road against a proven team. Yao may have had the better game than Shaq, but the Big Fella gets the last laugh. Good thing we took this one, I was about to take a rest from watching the Lakers since their play has been disgusting these past 2 games, but at the end of the day I'm happy we came out with the win.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Kobe Krazy:</div><div class="quote_post"> Poor shooting by Kobe, but other then that, excellent game. Very unselfish but still selfish at times... but hey... everyone has the right to get selfish when they need to be. Overall, the game was disgusting. Nearly put me to sleep at 10 P.M.</div> Exactly what I was about to say.. Agree with you on all of that. Also thought I should note that Shaq had only 7 rebounds in 40minutes, and Yao had 8 in 37 minutes... That's disgusting for them being the two biggest players in the game.. They should both be AVERAGING 13+boards with the minutes they get, and in a big game like this getting 15+..
What a great Game. That brick at the end of the game by Yao was pretty funny to watch here at home. Best lakers game all year?
I was getting ready to throw my TV out the window as soon as I saw kobe force that last shot. Damn, was that clutch or what? Great win tonight btw, shaq need to work on his freetrows seriously. 2/13 is just utterly pathetic, even for him.
That game was all Houston the first 3 quarters, and it was definitely THEIR game to lose. I dont see how it could be the greatest Laker game of the year, but it was definitely an entertaining espn game to watch
I'm surprised the Lakers were able to come back and win this game. The Rockets have owned us all season and Shaq has no answer for Yao on defense. The Lakers finally got hot from behind the arc and the Rockets defense collapsed in the 4th quarter giving up 34 points. The return of Karl Malone should solve the void at the forward spot for the Lakers. They have been outplayed at PF and SF for the last few games, and the Laker coaching staff is fed up with Devean George. He got a whopping 1 minute of playing time tonight and has lost his minutes to Super Model Rick Fox and a Red Headed rookie, Luke Walton. The Lakers also need Shaq to shoot a lot better than 2 for 13 from the free throw line. It's getting to the point where fouling Shaq is as good as forcing a Laker turnover.
If Shaq could hit 68%, he would've avg. 30+ points for his entire career. These games wouldn't be so close so much of the time, and they gotta play with intensity all of the time. Man, championship teams always get bored of the regular season, but the Bulls always won in the 60 win ration during there run. Lakers slack off to damn much, and Shaq could atleast hit half of his FTs.
Yao and Francis put on quite a show, but in the end, it was Kobe and the Diesel that capped off a road win. Thanks for making up for your bonehead loss to the Hawks guys!!
