Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers still had Kobe Bryant, but not lamar Odom, as they tipped off the 2007-08 season with a 95-93 loss at Staple Center against the Houston Rockets. After leading for much of the first half, the Lakers were outplayed in the third quarter, trailing by as man as 14 points. Trailing by 12 points with nine minutes remaining, the Lakers looked to be fading fast and on the verge of getting blown out in their home opener. Despite stemming the tide over the next 7:30, a bucket by Yao Ming with 1:36 remaining had the Lakers trailing by the same twelve point margin, 92-80.
At that point, thanks to some outstanding defense by the Lakers, along with some poor execution by the Rockets, the Lakers launched what was shaping up to be a miraculous comeback. After a 3-point play from Kobe Bryant made the score 92-83, Luke Walton and Jordan Farmar executed a beautiful trap on Tracy McGrady, with Farmar coming away with the ball and kicking it ahead to Kobe on the right wing. Kobe buried a 3-pointer to pull the Lakers to within 6 points with more than 1:25 remaining. The Rockets turned the ball over again on their trip down the court, as Derek Fisher stripped the ball from Yao Ming. Fisher got the ball ahead to Farmar, whose layup cut the Rockets’ lead to just four points. With 35 seconds remaining, Jordan Farmar fouled Houston’s Mike James, putting the career 80% free throw shooter on the line for two shots. Rather than ice the game, James missed both free throws to continue the Rockets’ implosion. The rebound went to Kobe Bryant, who made a driving layup at the other end, makingt he score 92-90. Following a time out, the Lakers capped off the rally by forcing Rafer Alston into yet another Houston turnover in the corner. After Derek Fisher’s steal with 22 seconds left, Kobe brought the ball up the court and found Fisher on the right wing for the game tying (if only his foot hadn’t been on the 3-point line, but behind it!) jump shot from Derek Fisher! 92-92!!!
Sadly, this is where the night peaked for the Lakers. With 13 seconds remaining, Tracy McGrady brought the ball up the floor for the Rockets and found Shane Battier a few feet behind the 3-point line on the right wing. With the clock winding down and a hand in his face, Battier put up a high, arcing 3-point attempt that found its mark- Rockets lead, 95-92 with 2.5 seconds left. After a timeout, Battier took an intentional foul on Kobe Bryant before he could attempt a game-tying 3-pointer (an effective, obvious but seldom-used strategy- seriously, why don’t more teams do this?) with 1.5 seconds remaining. After making his first free throw, Kobe intentionally (and beautifully) missed the second attempt, managed to get his own rebound, but had his shot blocked from behind by Rafer Alston as time expired.
The Lakers were led by Kobe Bryant (surprise!), who scored 45 points, although he made just 13 of 32 field goal attempts and 18 of his career-high 27 free throw attempts. Kobe also added 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals to his stat line. Derek Fisher was also a huge contributor for the Lakers, scoring 17 points on 6-9 from the field and getting 4 steals. For the Rockets, other than the obvious hero Shane Battier, the team’s superstar duo of Tracy McGrady (30 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists) and Yao Ming (25 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots) was the driving force behind the victory.
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