Lakers Draw Even With Game 2 Win

Series knotted at one game apiece after Lakers' 111-98 victory

Jason Friedman
Rockets.com Staff Writer

Los Angeles - The exchange was brief, respectful and perhaps just a wee bit awkward. Kobe Bryant, fresh off a 40-point performance and on his way to meet with the media, crossed paths with Shane Battier one final time Wednesday night within the halls of Staples Center. Bryant extended an arm and patted his counterpart on the chest saying, “Way to keep battling.”

Battier’s response: “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

He might as well have been speaking for the entire Rockets team.

Proving they won’t be pushed around or bullied by the Western Conference’s big dogs, the Rockets stood their ground amid an evening replete with trash talk, elbows, cheap shots and extremely physical play. And though the final score indicated a 111-98 Los Angeles victory leveling the best-of-seven series at one game apiece, the 48 minutes leading up to it revealed to all in attendance that this Houston team harbors no fear or dread in dealing with the big bad Lakers.

“We’re going to play basketball and we’re not backing down from anybody,” said Rockets’ head coach Rick Adelman after the game. “We’re going home now, we got a split here, and it’s our job to control it at home.”

To do so the Rockets will require the same sort of energy and effort they brought to the floor in Game 2; whether it be of the type demonstrated by the splendid play of Carl Landry (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Chuck Hayes off the bench, or that which was displayed by the fiery Ron Artest.

Addressing the latter, let it be said right off the top: Yes, he hurt his team by getting ejected in the fourth quarter for jawing at Bryant after the Lakers’ superstar had delivered an elbow to Artest’s throat at the other end of the floor. That said, there’s also something admirable and very worthwhile about a player standing up not just for himself but for his teammates as well. Having already witnessed Derek Fisher’s egregious cheap shot on Luis Scola mere minutes earlier, not to mention plenty of Lakers’ posturing throughout the evening as a whole, Artest’s refusal to back down brought to mind the tough, gritty – and invaluable - junkyard dog mentality which served the Rockets so well during their back-to-back championship seasons in 1994-95.

“I knew I was going to get a technical foul,” Artest admitted. “The point was to hopefully let the refs know I’m (upset) and tired of this guy elbowing me. I went over there, no punches, no shoves to the face, just confrontation. I backed off, and that’s a technical foul. I’ll take it. But I didn’t go there with the intention of getting ejected. I went there to tell Kobe he’s got to relax.

“Even in Game 1, he elbowed Shane. The league said he was just trying to get up, but he clearly was overaggressive on Shane. And my team, we’re not like that. We’re going to win fair and square or lose fair and square. We’re not going to fight or initiate anything. Kobe is great enough to take over games and lead his team. He could have done it without that. I’m hoping the league looks at it and we’ll move on to Game 3.”

In so doing, the Rockets will clearly see a need for more mature decision-making and improved execution. Artest was not the only Rockets player who received a premature exit - Von Wafer was sent to the locker room in the third quarter after throwing a tantrum upon being removed from the game (afterward, Adelman deemed the subject a “team situation”). Of far more importance going forward, however, is how the Rockets handle its alarming turnover rate (Houston turned the ball over 19 times Wednesday night, bringing its total to an unseemly 36 through the series’ first two games) as well as an old bugaboo – the fronting defense. Los Angeles repeatedly used Pau Gasol to front Yao Ming and, though persistent foul trouble certainly inhibited his effectiveness as well, Houston’s All-Star center managed to score a mere 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting as a result.

“Yao’s just got to do a better job,” said Adelman, “stay out of foul trouble and know that he’s facing a guy that’s more active and is going to put it on the floor and attack the basket on him.”

“There wasn’t anything they did that really surprised us. We knew they were going to try to front him and it’s disappointing because we went through that the whole series in Portland, knew what we wanted to do and really didn’t do it. So it’s back to the drawing board and understanding that this is how they’re going to play. I mean, that’s their best team so we knew that (lineup) was going to be on the floor for a good part of the time.”

So as the series shifts to Houston, it’s now the Rockets’ turn to respond. Adjustments will be made and it will be interesting to see what, if any, rulings the league hands down regarding the shenanigans on display Wednesday night. But no matter what takes place between now and the tip of Game 3, it seems safe to say this much: The Lakers, expected by many to cruise into the Western Conference Finals, offically have their hands full.

Because the Houston Rockets aren’t going anywhere.

QUOTES

RICK ADELMAN

on tonight’s game:

“I was disappointed in the way we played in the 3 rd quarter, after they got off to a great start in the 1 st quarter and shot the ball well ran it on us we didn’t get back in transition. And the 2 nd quarter we came back in our second group did a really nice job of getting us back in the game. In the 3 rd quarter they turned it right back on us again and we got very impatient and just didn’t get control of the game again.”

Rockets Coach Rick Adelman on matchup between Yao and Pau:

“We knew that there was a strong possibility that they would start Odom and that match-up out there and there nothing we can do about it, Yao’s just got to do a better job, stay out of foul trouble and know that he’s facing guy that’s more active and is going to put it on the floor and attack the basket on him.”

There wasn’t anything they did that really surprised us. We knew they were going to try to front him and it’s disappointing because we went through that the whole series in Portland, knew what we wanted to do and really didn’t do it. So it’s back to the drawing board and understand this is how they’re going to play. I mean, that’s their best team so we knew that was going to be on the floor for a good part of the time.

(on what happened with Von): That’s a team situation. I’d assume not comment on that right now.

on Lowry and Brooks, and Landry:

“I like that our two point guards played good together and they did a great job in the 2 nd quarter. It’s a situation that depends on the match-up more than anything else. Carl is able to guard when they put smaller people on the floor he’s able to guard those people better than Luis. We were just trying to get some consistency there but I think you’re going to see those guys on the floor.”

On controlling the emotions:

We’re going to play basketball and we’re not backing down from anybody. We’re going home now, we got a split here, and it’s our job to control it at home.

On the turnovers:

It’s something that’s been a problem both games. I think last game we might have been even turnovers and assists, and tonight we had more turnovers than assists. We can’t beat this team when we do that. We have to take care of the ball better and we have to find a way to be more efficient offensively. We did a great job the second quarter, but it’s got to be for the whole 48 minutes.

YAO MING

on the Lakers changing their low post defense:

“We had that before in the first round. In Game 1 they played straight, played behind against me and I scored big. Then Game 2 they changed their defense to tonight like Gasol did to me – fronts and their other perimeter guy stayed behind to see if they could steal the ball. We need to make adjustment again. We’ve had that experience so I believe that next game we will make some adjustments.”

on the physicality of tonight’s game:

“That’s how playoffs looks like. Everybody play very physical, try to control tempo.”

on adjustments made by the Lakers:

“I think they played with more energy, obviously, and more passion. Beginning of the game, they really into it like last one. I think that’s how Game 2 looks like. We know that after Game 1 they were not just sitting there planning again to do the same thing.”

RON ARTEST

I put my arm on Kobe, to touch him when he was demanding the ball. He hits my arm down and I tell the ref, ‘Look he’s hitting my arm down, he can’t do that.’ You can touch a man until the ball (arrives) – it’s basic defense. Then he did it again. I told the refs, ‘You have to control this.’ Then he throws the elbow right at my neck. I told Kobe, ‘You can do whatever you want to do. I’m not rattled.’ I let the refs control it. What am I going to do out there? Continue to get hit?

Even in Game 1, he elbowed Shane. The league said he was just trying to get up, but he clearly was overaggressive on Shane. And my team, we’re not like that. We’re going to win fair and square or lose fair and square. We’re not going to fight or initiate anything. Kobe is great enough to take over games and lead his team. He could have done it without that."

I’m hoping the league looks at it and we’ll move on to Game 3

I knew I was going to get a technical foul. The point was to hopefully let the refs know I’m (upset) and tired of this guy elbowing me. I went over there, no punches, no shoves to the face, just confrontation. I backed off, and that’s a technical foul. I’ll take it. But I didn’t go there with the intention of getting ejected. I went there to tell Kobe he’s got to relax. He’s hitting the wrong person. You’re hitting Ron Artest (laughs). I mean, come on. I like to compete and I don’t back down from anyone. I just think it should be fair. It was clearly at my neck – his elbow was at my neck.

I’m not retaliating. I didn’t retaliate then. I did that already. I did that stuff when I was in high school and early in the NBA. I’m done with that. I’m just playing basketball. It’s been physical. We’re giving our best and will continue giving our best.

SHANE BATTIER

It was a very emotional game. You could tell they were being tested and they wanted to show they were big and tough. We didn’t make enough basketball plays to quell the emotion.

On the trash talk:

It makes no difference. I just do my job as well as I can do it regardless of who’s yapping in my ear. I just tune out Kobe. He was saying all night, ‘You can’t guard me.’ I mean, what are you going to do? I played good ‘D’ on him and he made shots, so you tip your hat and come back. I learned long ago that I’m not a great trash talker, so I don’t try (laughs). I’m about winning games, I’m not about talking.

“Pretty much it went according to plan, not plan but we knew they were going to come out and blitz us right away and we just tried to withstand their initial charge and our bench did a great job to get us back in the game in the 2 nd quarter. To win this game two, we knew they were going to be amped, we had to play a great game and we didn’t have that effort tonight.”

on his thoughts of the series:

“We told ourselves, were going to win one, lose one and we’re going to have a shot in both games. I think most guys were taking it and now we have to go and regroup, make adjustments and play a more complete game in Game 3.”

on Kobe Bryant’s performance:

“When you’re guarding Kobe, when he misses the shots that he missed in Game 1, you’re the hero. When he makes the shots that he made tonight, you’re the goat. He took the same shots, he just made a lot more tonight, tip your hat, move on, and get ready for Game 3.”

LUIS SCOLA

On the Fisher hit:

It’s not up to me to comment about that. There are people who get paid for doing that and they’ll review it tomorrow and then decide. It’s part of the game. It happens. They penalized it. It’s a playoff game. There are going to be hard fouls, a lot of talking – it just happens.

BRENT BARRY

“We came into Los Angeles looking to get two wins, we got a split and now we’re going home. The way the game ended, maybe was not the way we typically like to see a game end but we’re going to go home and regroup and see if we can get back on the ball here.”

on the contributions from the Rockets bench:

“Well we got great contribution from the bench all year long, Carl obviously had some personal things to deal with, with his incident but he’s been big for us all year long. Chuck comes in and plays very solid post defense and does a great job of anchoring what we do in the post. We need everybody to step up and make contribution like that in order to beat such a good team like Los Angeles. In the first game, we did that and tonight we didn’t have enough. They came out with a little bit more purpose and I think that was evident.”

CARL LANDRY

“We really tried to be physical out there, play our game. We did a great job in Game 1 carrying out our assignments doing the things coaches told us to do. That’s what we’re trying to do going into Game 2.”

on his 2 nd quarter performance:

“We just went out there, not only me but the rest of the guys on the bench. We just tried to go out there and give it all we got. They had us on our heels and I think we we’re down double digits, 15 points or so and we tried to fight. We got it down, we even took the lead and that was good for us.”

PHIL JACKSON

on tonight’s game:

“I think we held the second half pretty well , the first half got await from us and you know we got a little bit out of sorts out there on the floor and lost momentum and they gathered it pretty quickly. And the end of the 3 rd quarter we started to regain our purpose and unfortunately the end of that quarter was an erratic ending it took a lot of air out of the whole game.”

on Yao Ming:

“He just you know limited minutes 26 minutes in a ball game where he played 40 the other night, that’s going to hold him down. But I did think we tried to do a good job on him.

on how Kobe and team adjusted to Battier defensively:

“Rather than be more hesitant shots like Shannon or whatever they load it up and get rid of the ball quickly and didn’t allow that hand in the face activity to affect his game tonight. I think that we were setting him one direction and not letting him come back he found a way to get back to that other direction he wanted to go; controlled it tonight.”

on the unbalanced scoring:

“Trevor and Lamar obviously played minutes and didn’t figure in the double digits scoring but Lamar had some opportunities that didn’t go well for him tonight. We know he’s going to find his way in this series and find a way to score. Trevor’s got his hands full defensively and we want him to work on that defensive aspect that he has to learn to deal with Artest out there.”

on whether he plans to have to score as many points in subsequent games:

KOBE BRYANT

on whether he plans to have to score as many points in subsequent games:

“I don’t know. You know, I’m just going to play. I’m just going to play. Just go out there, play what they give me and just go from there.”

on tonight’s game:

“It was a good physical game. You know, it’s playoff basketball. Intensity is elevated a little bit because there is a lot at stake. I think it was just a good, physical game.”

on adjustments he made tonight:

“I just focused on shots. In the first game I had looks that didn’t go down for me in the first half. Second half, it was different. I got a groove and I just carried it over to this game.”

DEREK FISHER

on his team’s toughness in this year in the playoff s:

“I think we have to be who we are. We have guys that have particular styles of

play, which have particular skill sets that are based more so on skill than the ability to

score the basketball, than the ability to move and not just line up and play physical

basketball. At the same time we’re capable of doing a lot of things out there and we intend to win a championship. Whatever it takes to do that, that’s what we’re willing to do. I don’t think it was different last year and I don’t think it’s any different this year we got beat by a better team in the finals last year.”

PAU GASOL

on tonight’s game almost getting out of control:

“Almost, but it didn’t. It was a physical game, a game that we needed to win, a game that we needed to establish ourselves, get ourselves going and we did. We feel good about our chances but obviously it is going to come down to going to Houston and getting a win; at least one, if not two.”

on getting off to the right start in tonight’s game:

“Yeah, we did. But then again we let them right back in the game. We were tied at the half. We got off on a very nice start and a very nice [first] quarter but then we let them right back in the game.”

on tonight’s game what it is going to be like playing in Houston:

“We just have to continue to play hard and compete and do what we need to do to win. Everybody needs to keep their focus and at the same time play hard and expect a hostile environment. Things can be complicated but at the same time we have to go out there with a lot of confidence and the right mind set.”

LAMAR ODOM

on whether or not Houston has an advantage going to play at home:

“It is one to one. If you consider home court an advantage then I guess you could say so. But we can play on the road and I think that we have proved that the whole year.”

SHANNON BROWN

on whether or not the team is satisfied with this win:

“We can still get better. We still have a lot to get better at offensively and defensively but to win the second game, we got it; now we have to go to their place and get it.”

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