Rockets Beat LA, Series Tied 3-3
HOUSTON, TX -- The Houston Rockets proved the doubters and naysayers wrong once again. The Rockets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 95 to 80 Thursday night in Game 6 of this 2009 Western Conference semifinal series to force a decisive Game 7 Sunday afternoon in L.A.
"The last two days all I've heard is we're not going back to LA," said Rockets head coach Rick Adelman. "Guys in our locker room didn't believe that."
The Rockets never trailed in the ball game.
Game 6 had a similar feel to it as Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. The Rockets jumped out to a big lead tonight; and, the Lakers struggled to stay in the ball game.
"We never had anything to get a score in that period of time," said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. "Nobody stepped up and got a score. They were able to convert early; and, we made some turnovers to give them easy run-outs again and set ourselves right back on our heels again, like the Sunday game, it was very similar."
Luis Scola was spectacular in the first quarter tonight. Scola scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the period. Simply put, the Lakers had no answer for Scola. Scola scored two jump shots; two jump hooks; two lay-ups and two free throws in the first 12 minutes as he sent Rockets' fans into a frenzy and the Lakers into a deep hole.
Thanks to Scola's special start, the Rockets led the Lakers 21 to 3 before the Lakers closed the quarter with a 12 to 6 burst to finish the period.
"Luis Scola was incredible," said Rick Adelman during his post-game press conference. "What can you say about him? He just got us going."
The Rockets led the Lakers 27 to 15 at the end of the game's first 12 minutes.
Unlike Game 4, the Lakers played with heart and effort in Game 6; but, different Rockets' players stepped up at different times during the game to quash any chances of a Lakers' victory.
Scola scored 18 points (7 for 11 from the field) in the first half; and, the Rockets led the Lakers 52 to 36 at halftime.
The Lakers started the third quarter with a 16 to 2 run to trim Houston's lead to just two points (54 to 52) with 5:58 left in the third quarter. Trailing by two, Kobe Bryant turned the ball over with a bad pass attempt to teammate Pau Gasol; and, Aaron Brooks made a beautiful bounce pass to a cutting Carl Landry which Landry converted into a reverse lay-up and a free throw to give the Rockets a 57 to 52.
The Rockets scored five of the next seven points and led 62 to 54 following a made three-point bucket by Aaron Brooks to lead 62 to 54 with 4:18 left in the third quarter.
"We never got back and recovered," said Phil Jackson. "They kind of held us off the rest of the game."
The Rockets kept the Lakers at arms' length the rest of the ball game as the Lakers never got closer than five points of the Rockets.
Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks scored eight points each in the fourth quarter. Brooks scored a team-high 26 points -- 15 in the second half. Brooks was 8 for 13 from the field (3 for 4 on threes). Landry scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half as well.
Landry and Scola combined for 39 points and 21 rebounds.
"I just can't give our guys enough credit," said Adelman.
Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 32 points; but, Bryant made just 11 of his 27 field goals. Bryant was 9 for 10 from the foul line; but, he never found a good shooting rhythm in Game 6. Bryant scored 13 points in the third quarter; and, LA outscored the Rockets 29 to 22 in the quarter. The Rockets still led 74 to 65 at the end of three quarters.
Pau Gasol scored 14 points and grabbed 11 boards; but, Gasol, once again, struggled against Chuck Hayes in the low post.
Lamar Odom pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds; but, Odom scored only eight points in 28 plus minutes.
"There's nothing to worry about," Jackson added. "It's just a game; and, we are just going to go out there and play. It's our home court; and, it's what we play for. We play a different game on our home court. It's obvious. It's pretty obvious now to see."
The Rockets shot 50.7% (36 for 71) from the field and limited the Lakers to just 35.7% (30 for 84).
Game 7 is Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles. Tip is set for 2:30 pm (CDT) on ABC.
"The last two days all I've heard is we're not going back to LA," said Rockets head coach Rick Adelman. "Guys in our locker room didn't believe that."
The Rockets never trailed in the ball game.
Game 6 had a similar feel to it as Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. The Rockets jumped out to a big lead tonight; and, the Lakers struggled to stay in the ball game.
"We never had anything to get a score in that period of time," said Lakers head coach Phil Jackson. "Nobody stepped up and got a score. They were able to convert early; and, we made some turnovers to give them easy run-outs again and set ourselves right back on our heels again, like the Sunday game, it was very similar."
Luis Scola was spectacular in the first quarter tonight. Scola scored 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the period. Simply put, the Lakers had no answer for Scola. Scola scored two jump shots; two jump hooks; two lay-ups and two free throws in the first 12 minutes as he sent Rockets' fans into a frenzy and the Lakers into a deep hole.
Thanks to Scola's special start, the Rockets led the Lakers 21 to 3 before the Lakers closed the quarter with a 12 to 6 burst to finish the period.
"Luis Scola was incredible," said Rick Adelman during his post-game press conference. "What can you say about him? He just got us going."
The Rockets led the Lakers 27 to 15 at the end of the game's first 12 minutes.
Unlike Game 4, the Lakers played with heart and effort in Game 6; but, different Rockets' players stepped up at different times during the game to quash any chances of a Lakers' victory.
Scola scored 18 points (7 for 11 from the field) in the first half; and, the Rockets led the Lakers 52 to 36 at halftime.
The Lakers started the third quarter with a 16 to 2 run to trim Houston's lead to just two points (54 to 52) with 5:58 left in the third quarter. Trailing by two, Kobe Bryant turned the ball over with a bad pass attempt to teammate Pau Gasol; and, Aaron Brooks made a beautiful bounce pass to a cutting Carl Landry which Landry converted into a reverse lay-up and a free throw to give the Rockets a 57 to 52.
The Rockets scored five of the next seven points and led 62 to 54 following a made three-point bucket by Aaron Brooks to lead 62 to 54 with 4:18 left in the third quarter.
"We never got back and recovered," said Phil Jackson. "They kind of held us off the rest of the game."
The Rockets kept the Lakers at arms' length the rest of the ball game as the Lakers never got closer than five points of the Rockets.
Carl Landry and Aaron Brooks scored eight points each in the fourth quarter. Brooks scored a team-high 26 points -- 15 in the second half. Brooks was 8 for 13 from the field (3 for 4 on threes). Landry scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half as well.
Landry and Scola combined for 39 points and 21 rebounds.
"I just can't give our guys enough credit," said Adelman.
Kobe Bryant scored a game-high 32 points; but, Bryant made just 11 of his 27 field goals. Bryant was 9 for 10 from the foul line; but, he never found a good shooting rhythm in Game 6. Bryant scored 13 points in the third quarter; and, LA outscored the Rockets 29 to 22 in the quarter. The Rockets still led 74 to 65 at the end of three quarters.
Pau Gasol scored 14 points and grabbed 11 boards; but, Gasol, once again, struggled against Chuck Hayes in the low post.
Lamar Odom pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds; but, Odom scored only eight points in 28 plus minutes.
"There's nothing to worry about," Jackson added. "It's just a game; and, we are just going to go out there and play. It's our home court; and, it's what we play for. We play a different game on our home court. It's obvious. It's pretty obvious now to see."
The Rockets shot 50.7% (36 for 71) from the field and limited the Lakers to just 35.7% (30 for 84).
Game 7 is Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles. Tip is set for 2:30 pm (CDT) on ABC.
posted by Kris Gardner @ 12:37 AM
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