Rockets-Lakers Preview

By KATE HEDLIN
Posted Jan 02 2012 11:27PM

A torn ligament in his right wrist may be to blame for Kobe Bryant's shooting struggles the last two games, but the Los Angeles Lakers star doesn't plan on altering his style of play.

Bryant and the Lakers look to win their fourth straight home game Tuesday night when they host the Houston Rockets.

After averaging 27.8 points and shooting 48.1 percent in Los Angeles' first four contests, Bryant struggled in the Lakers' home-and-home split with Denver over the weekend, averaging 16.5 points on 26.1 percent shooting.

Bryant became the sixth player in NBA history to score 28,000 points in Sunday's 99-90 road loss to the Nuggets, but it was an otherwise disappointing performance. He shot 6 of 28, finished with 16 points and had six turnovers, but refused to apologize for taking so many shots.

"I do what I do," Bryant, who tore the ligament in his wrist during the preseason, said Monday. "If guys are open, I kick it to them, if they're not, I shoot it. I play my game."

Coach Mike Brown expressed no problems with the shot selection, only praising Bryant's toughness.

"He's got to continue to figure out how to stay in rhythm or how to get in rhythm with that wrist. He might not say it, but try to hold a microphone with a torn ligament, let alone shoot it and make sure you get a follow through," Brown said. "That's a bear. That's a bear."

Playing for the fourth time in six nights could put additional strain on Bryant's wrist, but he did average 28.7 points per game against Houston in 2010-11, as the Lakers (3-3) took two of three in the season series.

Houston (2-2) has alternated home wins with road losses to open the season, most recently defeating Atlanta 95-84 on Saturday. Kevin Martin scored 27 points and Kyle Lowry had a career-high 18 assists for the Rockets, who led from start to finish.

Houston has allowed 108.5 points per game in road losses to Orlando and Memphis, but has limited the opposition to an average of 84.5 points in its two home victories.

"I think so far in the season, we've been showing two faces," said forward Luis Scola, who had a season-high 21 points against the Hawks. "In the two home games we've won ... we focused on defense ... In the two games we played on the road, we didn't play that way, that's why we won those two games and that's why we lost the other two."

Houston will need to perform better away from home as it opens a three-game trip with back-to-back games at Staples Center. The Rockets will take on the Clippers on Wednesday before opening a home-and-home series with Oklahoma City on Friday.

Houston will also be looking for Martin to stay hot. After shooting 1 of 10 and finishing with four points in a season-opening loss to Orlando, he's averaged 24.3 points while shooting 54.2 percent overall and going 13 of 25 from 3-point range.

Martin averaged 26.0 points against the Lakers last season.

The Rockets have lost three straight to the Lakers at Staples Center and nine of the last 11 overall meetings between the teams.

Kobe scores 37, Lakers hold off Rockets 108-99

By GREG BEACHAM
Posted Jan 04 2012 2:13AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) Andrew Bynum is acutely aware how many Lakers fans spent the offseason coveting Dwight Howard.

Judging by his first three games of the season, Bynum seems determined to prove to every basketball fan in Los Angeles that this team already has a star center.

Kobe Bryant scored 37 points, Bynum had 21 points and 22 rebounds in the first 20-20 game of his career, and the Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 108-99 Tuesday night for their fourth victory in five games.

With healthy knees and plenty of energy after a four-game season-opening suspension, Bynum gave yet another dominant low-post performance. He barely missed his career-high of 23 rebounds in his second career 20-rebound game, playing a team-high 38 minutes.

"I think I'm getting a lot more touches, so it's easier to be confident," said Bynum, who's averaging 22.7 points and 17 rebounds in his first three games. "Before the practices every day, I'm putting in work, so it's paying off."

Although Bynum has been increasingly outstanding when healthy in the past two years, he turned up in multiple trade rumors during the offseason, most surrounding Orlando's All-Star center. After several years of trade speculation, Bynum insists he's immune to it - and it's reflected in his current play.

"We all know the amount of talent he has, and he's really worked on it," Bryant said of Bynum. "The thing that I like about him is that he has an engine inside of him, and he wants to dominate. He has ambition to be great."

The Lakers also got 14 points from fellow 7-footer Pau Gasol, who was nearly traded to the Rockets last month in a three-team deal for Chris Paul. Bynum and Gasol patrolled the paint on defense and repeatedly beat Houston inside, combining for 17 points in the second half.

"It's not just tonight, but the way he's played these three games," Gasol said of Bynum. "He's been really aggressive, really decisive, and just pursuing every ball. I'm glad to see him with this level of intensity and energy, because it takes desire and will."

What's the best part about Bynum's dominance to Lakers coach Mike Brown? The big guy still isn't in game shape.

"He's still working on his conditioning," Brown said. "His conditioning is getting a little better. If he can get it to a point where it's great, oh my gosh."

The Lakers survived a tight fourth quarter with Bryant's brilliance and tough defense, holding the Rockets without a field goal for just under 6 minutes. Kobe scored seven consecutive points down the stretch of the Lakers' third straight win over the Rockets at home.

Kyle Lowry scored 22 points and Luis Scola added 20 for the Rockets, who opened a three-game trip with their eighth loss in 11 road games against the Lakers. Kevin Martin had 12 points on 5-of-17 shooting, missing seven of his eight 3-point attempts.

"We played an outstanding game all the way to the fourth quarter," Scola said. "Towards the end, we missed some shots that we usually make, and they made some tough shots. But we were kind of expecting that, because Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol are big players. Bynum is a tough center to play against. He's pretty big and athletic, and he looks like he's very focused. He got a lot of rebounds and had a good game."

Rockets swingman Courtney Lee had to be helped off the court with 10:40 to play after he collapsed in obvious pain from his right leg on a noncontact play in front of the Lakers' bench. Lee, who scored nine points, couldn't put weight on the same leg that bothered him with cramps during training camp.

After the game, Lee said the nasty-looking injury was only a strained calf muscle.

"I have no idea what happened," Lee said. "I went to the hole, got ready to run back and then my leg just buckled and I went down. I didn't feel anything at the time, so I didn't know what it was. So I tried to get back up run again, and I couldn't."

The Lakers were smooth down the stretch in their seventh game in 10 days, matching Oklahoma City for the NBA's busiest early-season schedule.

Houston scored six straight points to trim Los Angeles' lead to 93-89 with 3:54 to play, but Bryant hit a jumper and converted a three-point play on consecutive possessions before willing home a fallaway jumper with 1:59 left, putting the Lakers ahead by 11.

"We fought back a couple of times and hung around, but Kobe making a couple of those turnaround fadeaways, and those are tough shots to defend," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "We were trying to get our guys to come over and be more aggressive, but we haven't yet gotten to the point where we're trusting everybody on defense to come over. It's still a process."

NOTES: Lakers F Josh McRoberts sat out with a sprained left big toe. ... Fans near courtside included Ashton Kutcher, Alex Rodriguez, Torrie Wilson, Cindy Crawford, Rande Gerber, Tom Petty and Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio.

Notebook: Lakers 108, Rockets 99

By Dan Arritt, for NBA.com
Posted Wednesday January 4, 2012 2:04AM

THE FACTS: Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored a season-high 37 points Tuesday night and 7-foot center Andrew Bynum contributed 21 points and 22 rebounds, the first 20-20 of his seven-year career, leading the Lakers to a 108-99 victory against the visiting Rockets at Staples Center.

QUOTABLE: "It's big. It took long enough."
-- Bynum on his first 20-20 game in the NBA

THE STAT: Bynum came up one rebound short of his career high. He had five rebounds in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the game and 12 points and 14 rebounds at the half.

TURNING POINT: The Rockets wouldn't go away until the Lakers' second unit earned some separation early in the fourth quarter. With forwards Troy Murphy and Metta World Peace on the floor, along with guards Steve Blake and Jason Kapono, the Lakers stretched a one-point lead after three quarters to six on five points from Murphy, five from Blake and three from Bynum, the lone starter on the floor. Bryant then checked back in with 6:41 remaining and scored nine points down the stretch to put the game away.

HOT: After shooting just 6-for-28 from the floor in an 11-point loss at Denver on Sunday, many thought Bryant should have looked for other options. He obviously didn't get the message after shooting 5-for-14 in the first half, taking 29 shots in all against the Rockets and making 14. Midway through the third quarter, he was 7-for-17 from the floor, but came back to shoot 7-for-12 down the stretch. Chase Budinger had the hot hand for Houston, shooting 4-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc. Budinger was 3-for-4 from 3-point range in a 95-84 victory Saturday against the Hawks.

NOT: Houston guard Kevin Martin couldn't keep up with Bryant on either end of the floor. Martin came in averaging a team-high 19.3 points but was limited to 12 on 5-for-17 shooting, including 1-for-8 from 3-point land. He also spent more time guarding Bryant than any other player on the Rockets, or at least trying to guard him.

GOOD MOVE: Criticized for not passing the ball more in the loss in Denver, Bryant made the best pass of the game Tuesday -- to himself. While guarded by the smaller Martin early in the game, Bryant made a drop step with his back to basket, spun around and banked the ball with his left hand off the glass. He then jumped and caught the ball in one motion and laid it in for an 8-6 lead.

BAD MOVE: Bynum collected one of his six offensive rebounds midway through the fourth quarter and tried to pass it out to Murphy, who was standing near the 3-point line on the baseline. Murphy apparently wasn't ready for the pass because it hit him right in the face and bounced back to Bynum. World Peace apparently got a kick out of Murphy's misfortune because he started laughing while the play was still in progress.

QUOTABLE II: "Their bigs hurt us in the paint. They did what I was afraid was going to happen."
-- Houston coach Kevin McHale

NOTABLE: Houston back-up guard Courtney Lee went down with an apparent leg injury after missing a shot with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game. He had to be helped off the court by two teammates and couldn't put weight on either leg. ... Lakers back-up power forward Josh McRoberts did not play because of a left toe injury. .. Bryant's point total was the most he has scored since last March, when he totaled 37 in an eight-point victory against the Clippers, the game after scoring 42 in a triple-overtime victory against the visiting Suns.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Thursday @ Portland, Friday vs. Golden State, Sunday vs. Memphis. For the Rockets, Wednesday @ Clippers, Friday @ Oklahoma City, Saturday vs. Oklahoma City.

• Rockets: Adrien, Morris
• Lakers: Caracter, McRoberts

• Rockets: --
• Lakers: --

• Lead Changes: 15
• Times Tied: 11

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #8 Marc Davis, #18 Matt Boland, #68 Marat Kogut
• Attendance: 18997
• Duration: 2:08