9:02- Lakers on the board with a nice play from Turiaf to Odom in the low post.  Ronny had Scola on his back, and when he flopped, it forced Mutombo to rotate over, and Ronny made a nice pass from the center of the lane to a cutting Odom for an easy two.

8:00- 8-4 Houston.

6:07- Great play by Kobe.  He had Battier posted high, faced up, and as soon as the help started to come from Mutombo, he hit Ronny moving down the lane.  Ronny draws the foul and goes to the line.  That's the sort of thing they have to do, adn that Kobe is great with.  Recognize the double, and move the ball before it can be effective.  But for it to work, somebody needs to move.

5:50- Alston hits his third three of the quarter- deep- then he comes back on the next Houston possession and hits the baby hook in the lane.  He's been one of their better players during the streak, and it's easy to see why.  Timeout on the floor, Houston up 16-10.

Thus far, the Lakers have had a little trouble finding flow on the offensive end.  Defensively, the Rockets are 6-10 from the floor, but a lot of that comes from Alston's deep shooting.  At some point, stats say he'll miss.

Coming out of the TO, the Lakers get a good stand.  Vlad sticks on T-Mac off a switch, and forces a reasonably tough shot.  Then LO goes big to get the board.  On the next trip, Turiaf stuffs Mutombo big time. No finger wag there, but I'd have respected it a lot had Ronny done it.  16-13 Houston.

2:59- Timeout on the floor.  16-15 Houston, but the Rockets have been stuck on 16 for a couple minutes now.  The Lakers should/are likely looking to push when they can, but the Rockets don't give you a lot of chances.  They're hardly a run and gun team themselves, and don't give a lot of easy run out chances.  Most shots are within the O, so even long rebounds are well defended.

Farmar in for Fish off the TO.

Vlad hits a three to tie the game 18, 3:40 left in the quarter.

2:12- Lakers press off the Turiaf FT, but the Rockets break it easily and it results in an and-one for Chuck hayes.  It's so hard to effectively press in the NBA, since teams are so athletic and good with the ball most can break it.  Works in spots.

Mbenga in.

1:08- Alston hits another three, this time off a drive and kick from McGrady.  Farmar counters on the other end for LA, and it's 24-23 Houston.

END OF THE FIRST-

24-23 Houston.  Very fun entertainment on the floor.  Houston brought out a line of kids, each wearing a jersey of the team the Rockets had beaten during the streak.  Then the bear came out and while they played Another One Bites the Dust, he "punched out" each kid.  Then they got to the Lakers at the end, and a little kid came out, maybe six years old, and did the deed, riling up the crowd.  When he was done decking the big kid in the Lakers jersey, he pulled off his own Rockets jersey, was wearing a superman cape underneath, and started flexing for the crowd.  Then all the other kids pulled off their other jerseys, revealing Houston ones underneath, and stomped on them.

A little violent maybe, but very entertaining.

SECOND QUARTER-

Lakers come out with Farmar, Sasha, Turiaf, Odom, and Kobe. 

10:00- Lakers do a great job, setting a P and R with Farmar and Ronny.  Jordan came across the screen, brought his men with him, and then hit Ronny cutting, almost in a back door play.  Houston, though, comes right back with a backscreen of their own, and get a layup along the baseline, then on the next play get some good ball movement to create another easy hoop down low. 

They really do move the ball well.

8:28- Dunk for Luther Head off a goofy play (Sasha and LO basically kept each other from securing an offensive board) gives Houston a 32-29 lead. 

T on LO, but coming out of the TO Jackson misses the FT.  Walton in for LA.

Lakers are REALLY small right now, with Turiaf, Sasha, Walton, Farmar, and Kobe.  Hoepfully it results in some good ball movement for the Lakers on the offensive end.

7:28- Luther Head jumps way forward on his triple attempt, and ends up drawing contact on Sasha.  Not sure about the whistle there, but he makes the FT, and the Lakers are now down by eight.  Houston is really packing down on the Lakers inside, and they're having trouble finding good looks.  The Lakers are being forced to take a lot of bad shots close to the end of the shot clock.

They need to find some sort of rhythm.  Getting out on the run has been effective, but right now, the Rockets are rotating faster than the Lakers can create.

6:57- Timeout on the floor, Lakers down 38-29.

6:26- Lakers work the ball into the post, and after some patience, Ronny is able to draw a foul on Hayes.  He makes his FTs, and the Lakers are back within eight.  That was a pretty goo dpossesion, because they waited until they had a decent shot instead of forcing earlier in clock. 

Sasha hits a three, and the Lakers are back to within five.  They forced a 24 second violation in between points, as well, which was nice.  Bobby Jackson dribbled the hell out of the ball on that trip for Houston. 

4:48- Battier takes Kobe to the hole, and the Rockets are back up by seven.  On the next trip down, Kobe works the ball inside on good penetration, then kicks to Farmar, who for some reason hesitates before going up on a WIIIIIIIIIIIDE open three.  Brick.  He should have just put it up in rhythm. 

3:24- Kobe drives and kicks on the block to a wide open Walton for an easy layup.  Kobe's taken a lot of shots today, but it's not like he's ignoring his teammates.  When they make themselves available, Kobe is finding them. 

2:53- LO gets in in the post on Hayes, then puts a baby hook over him.  Odom has to live down there.  On the next trip (after a Scola putback on the TMac miss) he's back down on the block, and draws a foul on Hayes. As long as they're going to go small and not force Odom to battle a Mutombo down low, that's where he should be.  If the shot's there, he can take it.  If it's not, he can move the ball to a cutting player. 

Defensively, Houston is hurting the Lakers with screens and very, very good ball movement.  They're not standing still, and the Lakers are having trouble with their switches and rotations. 

2:18- Timeout on the floor, 51-40 Houston.

2:00- Odom goes over Scola in the post for an easy deuce, but then Scola comes back on the other end and burns the Lakers on the p and r.  Walton picks up the foul.  Hard to tell if that was his man coming off the screen, but either way, it was a terrible foul. At that point, the basket was scored, and they had to concede.  Adding the and-one didn't do much to help the situation. 

:33.3- Terrible call on Radmanovic.  Scola trips over his foot, and falls out of bounds, then gets the whistle (this after a nice block from LO).  Then it gets worse when Rad picks up the T.  ON the next trip, Walton misses a floater, then the putback after gathering his own board... and they call an offensive foul on Kobe.  I couldn't figure out for what, and nobody around me can either. 

Lakers down by 15, last possession:

Kobe tries to pump fake Battier, he doesn't bite, and the jumper is short.

HALFTIME: Lakers down 59-44.  20-10 Houston run over the last five and a half of the first half, 9-2 run over the last two minutes of the first half.  And oh by the way, T-Mac still hasn't scored yet for Houston.  Not a good sign.  More bad stuff?  The Lakers are being outshot 49-43%, outboarded 22-17, out FT'd 19-9, outdimed 11-9, have given Houston 12 PFs and drawn only seven.

This wont' make you feel better, either:  Houston has lost five games all year when at any point in the game they've led by 10 points or more.  I'm talking mid first quarter, second quarter, whenever.  That's pretty impressive.  They're also 37-7 when leading at halftime. 

Yikes.

THIRD QUARTER:

Lakers  score first, courtesy of Kobe.  They need to get the lead down fast, or it could get ugly.  Turiaf picks up his fourth, at the 11:07 mark.  That sends him to the bench, and brings Mbenga in. Not exactly conducive to a comeback. 

9:37- Vlad penetrates and draws a foul.  The Lakers have to keep trying to figure out ways to get deep into the Houston D.  On the next trip, they push the ball off an LO board, LO to Kobe to Fish, Open three early in the clock.

8:41- Lakers force a 24 second violation on Houston.  6-0 run starting the quarter.  This is a big trip...

... great play by Odom, who cleaned up the Fish miss (off a nifty pass from Kobe), then drove aggressively to the hoop and drew the foul on Mutombo.  No dribble.  Just went in.  Fun thing from the PA guy- who when Odom went to the line said, "Lamar Odom to the line for TWO NOISY FREE THROWS!"  Then the crowd started yelling.

He makes both, 59-51.  Down by eight, and they get another stop. Fish hits a three on the other end, and the Houston lead is down to five.  Houston calls timeout.  10-0 run to start the quarter for LA.   

7:38- 59-54 Houston.

6:00- Kobe lobs to a totally- and I mean TOTALLY- unguarded Mbenga for an easy layup.  DJ's getting the Kwame treatment down low, where literally nobody will guard him. 

Houston finally hits a three to get on the board for the third, but then Odom comes back with a bucket on a penetrate from Kobe and easy dish.  They created some space, then exploited it.  Overall, they're moving much better offensively right now. 

4:00- Lakers down two on an LO tip in, after Rad got a great pass from Kobe while cutting through the lane.  Guys are diving at the basket, and it's making it much easier to play.  Houston can't pack down the lane.

3:00- Lakers down 62-60. 

2:46- T Mac finally gets on the board with a running jumper in the lane, but Kobe comes back on the other end, pulling up on Battier for a bucket.  64-60. 

2:18- Walton in out of the TO, TMac misses his first FT.

1:31- Alston hits another three, proving that he is, apparently, the single greatest player in NBA history.  Farmar got lost on the pick, and Alston went up quick before the help could get there.  He scraped tight on that one.  Then on the next trip down, he fouls Alston coming off the pick, grabbing him as he turned the corner.  Teams are starting to pick on Jordan a little more.

END OF THE THIRD:

Alston ends the third with a huge three, as once again, Farmar gets wiped out on a screen.  Not sure why he gave Alston so much space with the clock so low, but overall, it's hard to complain about that quarter. Lakers hold Houston to 12 points, score 22 themselves, and are back in the game (71-66 Houston).  It looks like the Lakers are trying to initiate the offense a little higher out on the floor, setting more screens and running off more of them, too. 

The number of easy looks they had in that quarter was about 3 times what they'd seen earlier in the game.

FOURTH QUARTER-

Sasha, Walton, Farmar, Kobe, Ronny.

Walton starts the quarter with a great lob to Farmar for an easy two.  Houston lead down to 3... until Alston sticks another three, this time in Farmar's face while JF had a hand up.  That was just mean.

9:15- Great pass from Farmar to Turiaf, cutting to the basket.  JF took the ball to the corner, drew the double (totally unnecessary, I thought), which gave Ronny an easy path to the basket for the and one.  They come down on the next trip, and JF hits Ronny with a lob, which he nearly puts in, but draws the foul in the process.  Nice little stretch of redemption for Farmar after some terrible (or as Barkley would say, trruble) defense. 

8:54- Timeout on the floor.  80-75 Houston, with Ronny at the line for his FTs.  He misses the first, makes the second.  80-76.

8:39- Kobe bodies up T-Mac pretty well, but gets called for the foul when he slaps down on the ball on the drive.  That'll almost always get called.

Lakers plant Odom back down in the post, he gets the entry and is fouled going on the shot.

7:48- Kobe drives on Battier, and gets a call from the refs on Scola.  Looked like he went straight up to contest the shot and Kobe initiated the contact, but it was enough to get the whistle.  He makes both, adn the Houston lead is down to two....

... until Sasha strays too far from Bobby Jackson, who drills a three on an Alston kick to push it to five...  then Kobe responds on the other end with a turnaround J in the lane. 

84-81 Houston. 

5:50- Farmar peels off a baby screen from Turiaf, and drills a three.  Alston went under the screen, and Farmar made him pay.

Kobe on the next trip takes the worst of his 27 shots on the day.

In the TO, the Rockets have the "Dunking Dancers," a bunch of hotties who do the trampoline dunking thing.  Not to sound shallow, but this is the greatest T.O. thing I've ever seen. 

5:27- Great play by LO to sky and get an offensive board off a missed jumper... but then he misses the FTs. 

Battier comes back on the other end and hits a huge three, pushing lead back to seven.

Kobe hits a pull up jumper, back to five.

TMac responds on the other end, over Odom with the pull up of his own. Two very good players making very good plays. 

3:40- Four straight trips with nobody touching the ball other than Kobe.  They're getting away from what worked earlier in the half. 

3:21- Jackson hits a three, and the lead is back to 10.  10-2 run for Houston over the last 2:30ish.

2:00- Kobe pulls up for a three- terrible shot, tehn on the next trip, brings the ball up and gets blocked.  It's hard to avoid attracting attention on that end if you literally never give up the ball.  They can't score enough that way, and it hurts them on the other end, as well.  When he forces shots, they don't get an offensive set that lets them get back, either. 

:56.2- Lakers down 15, 103-88.  This game got away in a hurry.

:43.6- Alston draws a foul on Sasha, but was really showing him up.  Sasha seemed content to let the clock run down and not foul, but then Rafer started doing his Globetrotters thing, and I think Vujacic got pissed.  Can't say I blame him. 

FINAL SCORE: 104-92

Lakers got themselves back into it, but stopped running any sort of offense in the fourth.  Bad quarter for 24. 

More to come. Thanks for following along. 

BK