Rockets-Lakers Preview

By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN
Posted Apr 05 2012 8:43PM

A strong shooting effort by Kobe Bryant helped the Los Angeles Lakers take a big step towards another Pacific Division title.

Shooting at a high percentage could be tough for him against the Houston Rockets' Chandler Parsons.

Parsons gave Bryant problems the last time these teams met, and will try to do the same in Friday night's rematch in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles (35-20) increased its division lead over the Clippers by beating its Staples Center co-tenants, 113-108 on Wednesday. Bryant made 13 of 19 shots to finish with 31 points and added six assists, bolstering his MVP credentials.

The Lakers, who captured the season series and playoff tiebreaker over the Clippers, shot 51.8 percent in their fourth straight win overall.

"Kobe didn't want to lose," center Andrew Bynum said.

Now, the question is whether the 6-foot-6 Bryant can be as efficient when he goes up against the 6-9 Parsons. Bryant scored 29 points, but made just 10 of 27 shots and struggled down the stretch in a 107-104 loss at Houston (29-25) on March 20.

"I played good D," Parsons said after that victory. "I was right there in his face."

Bryant had some curious compliments for the rookie out of Florida afterward.

"You know what man, I might have to stop taking shots, when the shot clock is winding down, that's what I am going to start doing because you guys (the media) look at that and think its great defense, I am going to stop shooting the ball when the shot clock goes down, but I love him (Parsons) though," Bryant said. "I do, I think he is a terrific young player.

"He can shoot from the outside, handle the ball, and can rise to the challenge defensively. I think he has a really bright future and I don't say a lot about a lot of people."

Bryant has totaled 66 points in the season series and Bynum has contributed 37 points and 29 rebounds as these teams have split two games. Luis Scola had led the Rockets with 43 points versus the Lakers.

Bynum returned Wednesday after missing one game with an ankle injury and finished with 36 points - one off his season high - and eight rebounds despite not feeling 100 percent.

"It hurts a little bit, especially on spin moves," Bynum said. "I found more little things out there that hurt so I tried to stay away from them. As the game progresses, the pain subsides."

Houston is fighting for a playoff spot, entering play Friday tied for seventh in the Western Conference with Denver. Starting guard Kyle Lowry has missed the last 14 games with a bacterial infection, although he took part in some drills during Thursday's workout.

There may be no need for Lowry to rush back, given the way Goran Dragic has filled the void. Dragic is averaging 22.7 points on 62.5 percent shooting and 6.0 assists over his last three contests.

One of Dragic's best efforts during his 14-game run as a starter was a 16-point, 13-assist performance in the March 20 victory over the Lakers.

Houston has not played since Dragic had a team-high 21 points in Monday's 99-93 win at Chicago.

Rockets beat Lakers again after Bynum is ejected

Posted Apr 07 2012 2:54AM

LOS ANGELES (AP) The Houston Rockets have discovered a winning formula for beating the Los Angeles Lakers: Stay close long enough until Andrew Bynum gets himself ejected.

That's been the scenario the last two times the teams have met. Friday night, Bynum spent most of the fourth quarter in the dressing room while Goran Dragic and Luis Scola helped the Rockets pull out a 112-107 victory.

"It changed a lot," Houston coach Kevin McHale said. "Bynum was a guy we had to double-team and focus a lot on the defensive end to try to get the ball out of his hands."

Dragic had 26 points and 11 assists, and Scola scored 10 of his 25 points during a 2:39 span of the fourth.

"If you win against them in L.A., then it's something special," Dragic said. "They've won a lot of titles, and that was huge for us - especially in our playoff push."

The Lakers were trailing 80-75 when Bynum took exception to a foul by Samuel Dalembert with 1:18 left in the third quarter and had to be restrained by teammates, earning his first technical foul. The enigmatic and moody 7-foot center got another one with 11:17 left in the game after hitting a hook shot and mouthing off to the Houston bench on his way downcourt.

"You talk trash, that's the essence of basketball right there," said teammate and former Rockets forward Metta World Peace, who never had a reputation for being the voice of reason - not even when he was known as Ron Artest. "You score, you talk trash. That's fun. You got a bunch of street ball players in the NBA."

Etiquette notwithstanding, Bynum hurt the Lakers again with his selfish antics and his teammates are well aware of it. For someone who was suspended without pay for the first four games of this compacted 66-game season because of a vicious flagrant foul he committed against Dallas guard J.J. Barea in last year's playoffs - and fined $25,000 for ripping off his jersey while heading to the locker room - the seven-year veteran apparently hasn't learned anything.

The Lakers, trying to keep the Clippers from catching them for the Pacific Division lead, had a better-than-even chance to win this one. The lead changed hands six times after Bynum left, but they never led again after Matt Barnes tied the score at 99-all on a 3-pointer with 2 1/2 minutes to remaining.

"We'll never know," Pau Gasol said when asked how the game would have turned out had Bynum controlled his temper. "It would be good to have him on the floor and help us win games. He's just got to find a way to make sure he can help the team any way he can. And to do that, he has to stay in the game. He's a great guy. He's a good person and he's got a great heart. But I'm not him, I'm not inside him, and I don't know what goes on all the time in his mind."

Bynum finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in 31 minutes, after scoring 36 points against the Clippers despite a sprained left ankle.

On March 20 at Houston, was ejected late in the third quarter, and the Rockets erased a 17-point deficit scored a season-high 34 points in the fourth. Houston won it 107-104, with Dragic making the go-ahead 3-pointer with 28 seconds left.

"It's always tough when you lose somebody like Bynum because he's a 20-and-10 type of guy," point guard Ramon Sessions said. "I think he was just starting to get rolling, too, and getting hyped up right before that. We definitely needed him down the stretch."

Marcus Camby, playing with a sprained left wrist, had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets, who overcame a 15-point deficit en route to a 99-93 road win over the league-leading Chicago Bulls in their previous game on Monday night. They have won back-to-back games for the first time since March 13-14 against Oklahoma City and Charlotte.

Rockets leading scorer Kevin Martin missed his 13th straight game because of a right shoulder strain, but they are 8-5 in his absence.

Kobe Bryant, playing with a bruised right shin that kept him out of Friday morning's shootaround, scored 28 points for the Lakers. World Peace had a season-high 23, Gasol had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Barnes had 13 rebounds - three off his career high.

The Lakers fell to 1 1/2 games ahead of the Clippers in the Pacific Division. Six of the final 10 games on the Lakers' schedule are on the road, including the next three against Phoenix, New Orleans and San Antonio - whom the Lakers will face three times. They trail the Spurs by 4 1/2 games for the best record in the conference.

World Peace, who came off the bench in his first 19 games before replacing Barnes in the starting lineup on Jan. 29, helped lead Los Angeles to a 59-50 halftime lead with 17 points - two off his previous high this season. The 13-year veteran reached the 20-point mark for the ninth time in 214 regular-season games with the Lakers.

Notes: The 40th anniversary of the Lakers' first championship in Los Angeles is coming up on May 7, and the organization honored the members of that 1971-72 team in a halftime ceremony by giving them new championship rings. In attendance was coach Bill Sharman and nine of his players, including Jerry West, Pat Riley, Gail Goodrich and Elgin Baylor, who retired nine games into that season - the same day that his teammates began their record 33-game winning streak. ... With the Lakers atop the Pacific Division, the Clippers leading ninth-place Utah by 4 1/2 games in the West with 11 to play - and the NHL's Kings having clinched a playoff spot Thursday night - it's shaping up to be the first time that all three of Staples Center's major tenants will make the postseason in the same year since the arena opened in 1999-00. ... Bryant needs four steals to surpass Magic Johnson's total of 1,724 for the Lakers' franchise record and take over 15th place on the career NBA list. Johnson led the league twice in that department, something that Bryant never did. ... Houston is 8-6 since Dragic took over as the starting point guard because of Kyle Lowry's bacterial infection.

Notebook: Rockets 112, Lakers 107

Posted Saturday April 7, 2012 2:25AM

By Dan Arritt, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: For the second straight meeting against the Lakers, the Rockets didn't have to deal with center Andrew Bynum down the stretch. His departure via a second technical foul made things a lot easier for players like Goran Dragic and Luis Scola, who helped lift Houston to a second straight win over the Lakers, 112-107, at Staples Center.

THE STAT: Dragic, who moved into a starting role when point guard Kyle Lowry went down with a bacterial infection a month ago, scored a season-high 26 points and contributed 11 assists and three steals. Dragic came into the game with three straight 20-point performances for the first time in his four-year career. He also played solid defense on Lakers point guard Ramon Sessions, holding him to 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting.

QUOTABLE: "It's not like he learned how to play in the last month. He had all of this. You don't play like this if you don't have it. You don't develop this in a month. He was already this type of player. He just needed a place to show it."
-- Scola on Dragic.

TURNING POINT: The Lakers continued their trend of giving away double-digit second-half leads against inferior opponents. They led by 11 points at the start of the third quarter but Dragic and backcourt mate Courtney Lee each hit two 3-pointers in a 23-10 run that gave Houston a 75-73 lead. Bynum picked up his first technical for jawing with Rockets back-up center Samuel Dalembert after a seemingly light foul from behind with 1:18 left in the third. Bynum continued to play with a scowl on his face and, after opening the fourth quarter with a left-handed hook for an 84-83, had some words for the Houston bench and was ejected. With the 7-footer out of the game, Scola went to work down low, scoring 10 consecutive points for Houston before Chandler Parsons hit a line-drive 3-pointer from the baseline to give Houston a 104-99 lead with 1:30 remaining. The Lakers didn't get any closer than three after that.

HOT: Lost between the Bynum ejection and the sensational games by Dragic and Scola was the best offensive game by Metta World Peace in more than a year. World Peace scored 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting and was particularly effective in the first half, when he tallied 17. With Parsons moving over to guard Kobe Bryant, World Peace was able to make use of his size advantage against Lee.

NOT: Lakers back-up forward Matt Barnes hit a timely 3-pointer with 2:31 remaining to tie the score for the final time, 99-99, and collected a season-high 13 rebounds, but he shot 1-for-9 from the field and was part of another weak effort by the L.A. bench. The Lakers reserves were outscored, 26-13, leaving them especially vulnerable after Bynum departed.

GOOD MOVE: Houston center Marcus Camby had a tough task trying to guard the much thicker Bynum, and he picked up two fouls in the game's first three minutes, but Dalembert picked up the slack nicely, finishing with 12 points, six rebounds and two steals, while obviously getting under the skin of Bynum. Camby also reemerged from his early foul trouble to score 12 points and grab 11 rebounds. Early in the fourth quarter, he beat the shot clock with his first regular-season 3-pointer since New Year's Eve in 2009, giving the Rockets a 91-89 lead.

BAD MOVE: The Lakers bench has become ever shorter, as back-up forward/center Troy Murphy did not appear in two of the previous four games. He was forced into action after Bynum's ejection, however, sank his only shot but committed two quick fouls trying to guard the much quicker Scola. He was quickly replaced by World Peace, who didn't have the size to match up with the Argentinian either.

QUOTABLE II: "Scola had really good rhythm and made shot after shot after shot for us there. We changed it up and tried to get Goran on a drive and he made a heck of a layup over some bigs. It was a heck of a win for us."
-- Houston head coach Kevin McHale.

NOTABLE: The Lakers honored members of the 1971-72 championship team during halftime, awarding them commemorative 40th anniversary rings. Among those in attendance were Jerry West, Pat Riley, Elgin Baylor and Gail Goodrich... Bryant finished with a team-high 28 points, but did not record a rebound or assist until grabbing a defensive board with 4:20 remaining in the game. He finished with two rebounds and no assists.

UP NEXT: For the Lakers, Saturday @ Phoenix, Monday @ New Orleans, Wednesday @ San Antonio. For the Rockets, Sunday @ Sacramento, Monday @ Portland, Wednesday vs. Utah.

• Rockets: Fortson, Smith
• Lakers: Eyenga

• Rockets: Parsons
• Lakers: Bynum, Bynum

• Lead Changes: 18
• Times Tied: 17

• Arena: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• Officials: #57 Greg Willard, #42 Eric Lewis, #54 Nick Buchert
• Attendance: 18997
• Duration: 2:31