Rockets Destroy Lakers and Tie Series
HOUSTON, TX -- While the rest of the NBA world believed the Houston Rockets had no chance to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers without Yao Ming, the Rockets' players simply believed in each other. The Rockets' combined belief and superior performance on offense crushed the Lakers 99 to 87 in Game 4 to tie this Western Conference semifinal series at two games each.
"Everybody counted us out since Yao went down; but, I believed that we went out there and played like we had something to prove," said Rockets guard Kyle Lowry. "We played well. We hit a lot of shots."
Though the final margin is only 12, the Rockets led the Lakers by as many as 29 points (83-54 to end the third period). The Lakers never led in the game; the game was never tied; and, obviously, the lead never exchanged hands.
The Rockets took the Lakers behind the woodshed and gave Kobe and Co. a good old-fashioned butt-whupping. Period.
The Rockets played Game 4 with heart, passion, and nuts. The Lakers didn't showcase any of those attributes until the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand.
Rockets' guard Aaron Brooks scored a game and career playoff-high 34 points (12 for 20 from the field). Brooks' quickness befuddled Lakers' guard Derek Fisher; and, Fisher had no help from his disinterested teammates when Brooks ran pick-and-roll with any of his Rockets teammates. Brooks penetrated LA's porous defense at will; and, when the Lakers opted to go under the pick, Brooks drained four three-point shots to make the Lakers pay.
Shane Battier keyed Houston's white-hot start with 11 of the Rockets first 17 points as Houston jumped to a 19 to 4 lead at the 5:30 mark of the first period. Battier finished the first period with 12 points (4 for 4 from the field including 3 for 3 on threes and 1 for 1 from the foul line). Battier's 12 points outscored Kobe Bryant's nine first quarter points.
Battier finished the game with a career playoff-high 23 points (6 for 12) while Bryant scored only 15 points (7 for 17). Bryant attempted zero free throws in the ball game.
"I think defensively we did a great job and that fed to our offense," said Aaron Brooks. "It all started with Shane. I think Shane played big today. He came out and gave us a spark; and, defensively, he did his thing. That's the heart of the team right there."
Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 30 points; but, Gasol scored 18 of those points in the fourth quarter. Gasol was clearly bothered by the defense from 6'6" Chuck Hayes. Hayes used his strength and quickness to defend Gasol; and, Gasol struggled attacking the shorter Hayes on offense.
"We have complete confidence in Chuck," said Rick Adelman. "He's able to defend people one-on-one. They don't back him down. He did a nice job on Gasol. He got offensive rebounds for us. He just did everything for us."
Chuck Hayes said, "We are faster now without Yao in there; and, we can move our feet. If we can create aurnover and just sprint the court to cause confusion, maybe we will get lucky and get an open three-point shot or an open lay-up will come from that."
Lakers head coach Phil Jackson flatly stated after the game, "Houston played a great game. Give them some f***ing credit. The kid Brooks played great tonight. He was terrific on the floor. They played well."
The Rockets led the Lakers 29 to 16 at the end of the first period and 54 to 36 at the half.
The Lakers Game 4 played like they were satisfied with winning Game 3 and regaining the home-court advantage; and, the Rockets took full advantage of LA's malaise.
Brooks scored 17 points in the third quarter; and, his final two points of the quarter summarized the Rockets' effort and performance as well as LA's lack of focus. With 0.7 seconds left in the quarter, Brooks got behind LA' Jordan Farmar; leaped in the air; and caught a perfectly thrown mid-court in-bound pass from Ron Artest and before he landed; banked the shot off glass for an alley-oop lay-in to put the Rockets ahead by 29 heading into the fourth period.
The Lakers exhibited some semblance of pride in the fourth quarter and made the final score respectable; but, the damage was done and the Rockets tied the series 2-2.
Kobe Bryant said, "I just don't think we started the game with the right energy or the right focuse or sense of urgency. They are not going to back down or go away. We just didn't come out with the sense of urgency that I would have liked."
The series is now best of three with two games in Los Angeles.
"We're 2-2; and, now it's a three game series," said Rockets forward Luis Scola.
Scola scored 11 points and grabbed a career playoff-high 14 rebounds.
"I can't say enough about our guys," Adelman said. "The news we heard yesterday about Yao and coming out to play the way they did in the first three quarters was incredible. You can use all the adjectives you want to use. Now, it's 2-2, a three game series; and, we take each game as it comes."
"Everybody counted us out since Yao went down; but, I believed that we went out there and played like we had something to prove," said Rockets guard Kyle Lowry. "We played well. We hit a lot of shots."
Though the final margin is only 12, the Rockets led the Lakers by as many as 29 points (83-54 to end the third period). The Lakers never led in the game; the game was never tied; and, obviously, the lead never exchanged hands.
The Rockets took the Lakers behind the woodshed and gave Kobe and Co. a good old-fashioned butt-whupping. Period.
The Rockets played Game 4 with heart, passion, and nuts. The Lakers didn't showcase any of those attributes until the fourth quarter when the game was well in hand.
Rockets' guard Aaron Brooks scored a game and career playoff-high 34 points (12 for 20 from the field). Brooks' quickness befuddled Lakers' guard Derek Fisher; and, Fisher had no help from his disinterested teammates when Brooks ran pick-and-roll with any of his Rockets teammates. Brooks penetrated LA's porous defense at will; and, when the Lakers opted to go under the pick, Brooks drained four three-point shots to make the Lakers pay.
Shane Battier keyed Houston's white-hot start with 11 of the Rockets first 17 points as Houston jumped to a 19 to 4 lead at the 5:30 mark of the first period. Battier finished the first period with 12 points (4 for 4 from the field including 3 for 3 on threes and 1 for 1 from the foul line). Battier's 12 points outscored Kobe Bryant's nine first quarter points.
Battier finished the game with a career playoff-high 23 points (6 for 12) while Bryant scored only 15 points (7 for 17). Bryant attempted zero free throws in the ball game.
"I think defensively we did a great job and that fed to our offense," said Aaron Brooks. "It all started with Shane. I think Shane played big today. He came out and gave us a spark; and, defensively, he did his thing. That's the heart of the team right there."
Pau Gasol led the Lakers with 30 points; but, Gasol scored 18 of those points in the fourth quarter. Gasol was clearly bothered by the defense from 6'6" Chuck Hayes. Hayes used his strength and quickness to defend Gasol; and, Gasol struggled attacking the shorter Hayes on offense.
"We have complete confidence in Chuck," said Rick Adelman. "He's able to defend people one-on-one. They don't back him down. He did a nice job on Gasol. He got offensive rebounds for us. He just did everything for us."
Chuck Hayes said, "We are faster now without Yao in there; and, we can move our feet. If we can create aurnover and just sprint the court to cause confusion, maybe we will get lucky and get an open three-point shot or an open lay-up will come from that."
Lakers head coach Phil Jackson flatly stated after the game, "Houston played a great game. Give them some f***ing credit. The kid Brooks played great tonight. He was terrific on the floor. They played well."
The Rockets led the Lakers 29 to 16 at the end of the first period and 54 to 36 at the half.
The Lakers Game 4 played like they were satisfied with winning Game 3 and regaining the home-court advantage; and, the Rockets took full advantage of LA's malaise.
Brooks scored 17 points in the third quarter; and, his final two points of the quarter summarized the Rockets' effort and performance as well as LA's lack of focus. With 0.7 seconds left in the quarter, Brooks got behind LA' Jordan Farmar; leaped in the air; and caught a perfectly thrown mid-court in-bound pass from Ron Artest and before he landed; banked the shot off glass for an alley-oop lay-in to put the Rockets ahead by 29 heading into the fourth period.
The Lakers exhibited some semblance of pride in the fourth quarter and made the final score respectable; but, the damage was done and the Rockets tied the series 2-2.
Kobe Bryant said, "I just don't think we started the game with the right energy or the right focuse or sense of urgency. They are not going to back down or go away. We just didn't come out with the sense of urgency that I would have liked."
The series is now best of three with two games in Los Angeles.
"We're 2-2; and, now it's a three game series," said Rockets forward Luis Scola.
Scola scored 11 points and grabbed a career playoff-high 14 rebounds.
"I can't say enough about our guys," Adelman said. "The news we heard yesterday about Yao and coming out to play the way they did in the first three quarters was incredible. You can use all the adjectives you want to use. Now, it's 2-2, a three game series; and, we take each game as it comes."
posted by Kris G @ 5:54 PM
1 Comments:
At May 11, 2009 11:04 AM,
Find Paid Online Surveys said…
Battier's early shooting boosted the Rockets. Phil Jackson's "I won't call a timeout no matter how much I get behind early" strategy backfired. LA got into a hole it couldn't get out of. The Lakers should take it but it's become an interesting series. Still looking for Lakers/Nuggets winner vs the Cavs with Lebron lighting up the Finals.
Ryan
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