# [Regular Season Game 66] Houston Rockets vs. Los Angeles Lakers



## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

*vs.*

*(42-23)/(50-13)*


When/Where:
*Wednesday, March 11, 8:30 PM ET*






















































*Brooks / Artest / Battier / Scola / Yao*














































*Fisher / Bryant / Ariza / Powell / Gasol*


_*Preview*_


> A month ago, the Houston Rockets were dealt a severe blow as Tracy McGrady was ruled out for the season. That knee injury, however, hasn't slowed Houston at all, and Ron Artest is a big reason why.
> 
> The Rockets hope their "team" mentality -- and a return home -- can help them improve to 12-2 since losing the seven-time All-Star when they host the slumping Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
> 
> ...



_*Next Games*_
vs.








vs.








vs.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Best of luck tomorrow night! Should be a good game. Looks like we're without Odom for this one.


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## Spaceman Spiff (Aug 2, 2006)

Odom gives us the most problems. We should be able to keep the momentum going.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Statement game again right here.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Yao on Gasol
Artest/Battier on Bryant

I am so looking forward to this.


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

We cannot afford to be out hustled tonight. Our PG combo needs to continue being agressive. Here's hoping Gasol has a hitch in his shot tonight! Go Rockets!!!


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Kobe will be Kobe, but he'll have his hands full with Ron and Shane guarding him.
Yao and Scola will play good tonight.
We need to make those free throws.


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## Spaceman Spiff (Aug 2, 2006)

We have not played the Lakers yet with both Artest and Battier. Tonight we can give Kobe a full 48min of a fresh Artest and/or Battier everytime down.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Yeah I love the idea of Battier and Artest getting 20mins on Bryant each.

Thats what I am really looking forward to. Also Wafer played really well against the Lakers last time. Hopefully he can step up again.


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Spaceman Spiff said:


> Odom gives us the most problems. We should be able to keep the momentum going.


Odom's not playing cause of his suspension.

Anyways, slow Kobe down and one thing I noticed is that the Lakers have horrible PG Defense in which case:

Aaron is too quick for Fisher
Lowry is too strong for Farmar/Vujacic


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

The key is to make Kobe inefficient. Lets do this!


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Rockets on a run...


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

WOW our inside men (Yao Luis Carl) are 14 from 14.

LOL we need to keep looking inisde.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Lowry has been impressive so far. I really like what this kid brings to the team. He's growing on me indded.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

WHy am I feeling as good as I did last year about this time of year? I just wonder what it would have been like had we played with this type of energy and chemistry last year.


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## Spaceman Spiff (Aug 2, 2006)

OneBadLT123 said:


> WHy am I feeling as good as I did last year about this time of year? I just wonder what it would have been like had we played with this type of energy and chemistry last year.


uuuhhhh.... we did. You don't win 22 straight for no reason. I wonder how it would be like if we were this deep last year and in years past.


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## Spaceman Spiff (Aug 2, 2006)

We need to take better care of the ball and keep feeding the inside. We're dominating the paint. As long as we don't turnover the ball we should win this game.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Dear Houston,

Please stop kicking our asses. Thanks.

Los Angeles


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Key to the second half is to protect the ball, We had too many turnovers in the first half.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

I should have known better than to trust a lead with the Rockets. We can never, ever maintain a lead.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Why does Yao have butter hands sometimes?


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

damn, now I just feel like crap. Nothing is working this Q


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Wll thats a little too close for comfort. This is going down to the wire. And I have a feeling Kobe is going to go off in the 4th.


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Yao needs to be more aggressive.
3-22 from 3Pt ?


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Mother ****er. Why can we ever do **** in the 4th Quarter. Seriously. Why? Never have I ever seen a team with such 4th quarter problems as the Rockets.

I just dont understand.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

3 points in 6 minutes of play in the 4th. Seriously.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

That was a bull call on Ron


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

We only have 21 points so far in the 2nd half to LA's 35


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Somehow this game is tied though. But man are we making it hard. 20 TO's this game. Ouch


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Big shot wafer.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Seems like this game might go down to the final shot.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

This game is driving me nuts.


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Lowry's denfense is much better than AB.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

OneBadLT123 said:


> This game is driving me nuts.


You & me both, though for opposite reasons I'm sure. :biggrin:


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Stupid Artest trying too hard to score.


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Artest is out of control.


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Not liking this right now.

Kobe taking the game away from us.

We really need a closer.


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## Spaceman Spiff (Aug 2, 2006)

I was afraid this would happen. Artest is trying to make it personal. That dbl tech didn't help either. I hate to say it, but he needs to be benched.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Yeah we are not going to win this one. Not unless we go for a little run here.


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

4 Point play!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

AARON BROOKS comes up big


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Still have a feeling that the Lakers will take this. They're pretty good at breaking streaks.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Artest is killing us.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Damn Brooks, that helped.. lol


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## gi0rdun (May 31, 2007)

Oh good job Artest. Right now he's a T-Mac with more pride and defense. Stick to playing D and making Kobe look silly when he's trying to score.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Game over, we lost this one. Barring some miricle.


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Yao is a turnover machine.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

Thanks Ron for blowing this game for us.
I would also like to thank Yao for playing and boxing out like a wuss. 
I would also thank the Rockets organization for its complete incompetence of closing opponents out.


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## Spaceman Spiff (Aug 2, 2006)

Why aren't we playing a zone with Artest and Battier up front!?


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## hroz (Mar 4, 2006)

Its over.

Kobe is amazing.


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## Spaceman Spiff (Aug 2, 2006)

When games get close teams often go to that 2 man game involving Yao on the pick n roll. We need to play a zone in those situations. It would also throw them out of rhythm. I hope we're saving that as some sort of secret weapon for the playoffs.


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Rockets in this game live and die by the three.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

yao, scola, and landry only combine to take 24 shots for the game. shot 18-24 but only got 24 shots. just doesn't make sense. especially against good teams, the rockets have to play inside out if they want to have success.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

mtlk said:


> Rockets in this game live and die by the three.


i'm fine with that as long as the 3s are open 3s coming from the bigs passing out of the post and rotating the ball. that wasn't really the case for much of tonight.


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## Basel (Mar 31, 2005)

Good game tonight, fellas! We'll see you again April 3rd.


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## Spaceman Spiff (Aug 2, 2006)

23TO, that's unacceptable. We'd be lucky to beat the Wolves with that many.

Yao CANNOT go through a game with only 9 shots. He was on fire in the first qtr and he barely touched the ball since. Artest taking it to personal cost us this game. That gamble on the Kobe 3 as the shot clock went out was as stupid as Yao's 6th foul on Billups the other night. Boneheaded play.


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## OneBadLT123 (Oct 4, 2005)

We took 28 3 pointers this game

thats right

28... And only made 5 of them.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

28 threes. 24 shots by the bigs. something is wrong with that. the rockets really should be trying to have the 3 big guys combine for around 35 shots a game.


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## Legend-Like (Mar 25, 2006)

Why do we always **** up in the 2nd half?

Landry should have stayed in cause Yao could not guard Pau to save his life.


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Rick Adelman got outcoached in the second half.


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Great game by our reserves............. and Scola.


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

Legend-Like said:


> Why do we always **** up in the 2nd half?
> 
> Landry should have stayed in cause Yao could not guard Pau to save his life.


gasol wasn't the problem. yao should have come back in earlier because the team didn't do **** on offense without him in the 2nd half.

artest should have come out once he decided he was going to stop playing team basketball.


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Man, I'm frustrated after this loss.:azdaja:


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## Hakeem (Aug 12, 2004)

rocketeer said:


> 28 threes. 24 shots by the bigs. something is wrong with that. the rockets really should be trying to have the 3 big guys combine for around 35 shots a game.


What exactly happened, though? I didn't watch the game. 

Did we simply choose not to throw it to Yao? Were they fronting him? Were they sending quasi-doubles off the ball? What did Yao do all game? Gasol took 18 shots to get his 20 points, so that's not really a problem, but on the offensive end... 36 minutes for 9 shot attempts and 6 rebounds?

And what was Artest doing wrong? Was he trying to create his own shot from the perimeter?


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## Spaceman Spiff (Aug 2, 2006)

Hakeem said:


> What exactly happened, though? I didn't watch the game.
> 
> Did we simply choose not to throw it to Yao? Were they fronting him? Were they sending quasi-doubles off the ball? What did Yao do all game? Gasol took 18 shots to get his 20 points, so that's not really a problem, but on the offensive end... 36 minutes for 9 shot attempts and 6 rebounds?
> 
> And what was Artest doing wrong? Was he trying to create his own shot from the perimeter?


Artest began to take it personal with Kobe. At one point they got a double tech..... it all went downhill from there. We were killing them inside in the 1st half but in the 2nd half we stopped giving them the ball. Artest began making bad decisions. We were given 2nd life thanks to an Aaron Brooks 4pt play. Artest then played excellent D on Kobe for 21 seconds. He poked the ball lose and then instead of staying in front Kobe who had already chased it down, he dived for the ball, giving Kobe a wide open 3 as the shot clock expired. Had he stayed in front of Kobe then it would have been a contested 30 footer. This pretty much iced the game.


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

Spaceman Spiff said:


> He poked the ball lose and then instead of staying in front Kobe who had already chased it down, he dived for the ball *with no freaking chance of getting it*, giving Kobe a wide open 3 as the shot clock expired. Had he stayed in front of Kobe then it would have been a contested 30 footer. This pretty much iced the game.


Fixed. :azdaja:


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## jdiggidy (Jun 21, 2003)

There is one good thing we can take out of this game. UTAH LOST THEIR GAME SNAPPING THEIR 12 GAME WIN STREAK!

OK, so maybe that has nothing to do with our crappy game but, it does make me feel alot better! Not even gonna comment on that game. I'll just keep saying UTAH LOST until everyone starts to feel better.

UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST, UTAH LOST

Is this doing anything for anyone?


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## Cornholio (Feb 13, 2005)

> *Behind the Box Score, where Kobe kept his cool*
> 
> The game of the night. The playoff-like atmosphere -- and mind you, this is a cliché but a completely accurate one -- was evident from the opening minute. These teams were really going at it from the first quarter onward, never letting up, and the Houston crowd acted as if this game counted for more than the single W or L that it turned out to be.
> 
> ...


Ball Don't Lie


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## rocketeer (Oct 7, 2002)

Hakeem said:


> What exactly happened, though? I didn't watch the game.
> 
> Did we simply choose not to throw it to Yao? Were they fronting him? Were they sending quasi-doubles off the ball? What did Yao do all game? Gasol took 18 shots to get his 20 points, so that's not really a problem, but on the offensive end... 36 minutes for 9 shot attempts and 6 rebounds?
> 
> And what was Artest doing wrong? Was he trying to create his own shot from the perimeter?


yao was struggling holding onto the ball on his rebounds. several times he grabbed one and tried to pull it down and only to have it slapped away.

artest basically had several possessions in the 4th where he just tried to take kobe one on one with no regards to anyone else on offense and pretty much failed every time. he also took a horrible gamble on defense to give kobe a wide open 3 and got way to caught up in a battle between him and kobe instead of playing a team game.

they didn't really front yao. there were a few turnovers from bad passes in to yao. yao was really slow reacting to double teams last night. instead of making the pass before they got there, he'd wait until there was nowhere to go with the ball. i thought the team did an alright job as far as getting yao the ball until the 4th when artest went crazy. but yao was out for a large stretch of the 4th and scola and landry hardly saw any touches and basically didn't get the ball at the post at all in that period.


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## mtlk (Apr 25, 2005)

Artest must know he is not match for Kobe.:nailbiter::wahmbulance:


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