Opening Night Rematch In Houston

Lakers (3-3) @ Houston Rockets (6-2)

November 14, 2007, 9:00 PM Eastern (8:00 PM Pacific); Shown nationally on ESPN

Toyota Center- Houston, TX

A day after suffering their worst loss of the season in San Antonio, the Los Angeles Lakers are in Houston for the second half of a brutal back-to-back. The Lakers will be looking to avenge their opening night defeat at the hands of the Rockets, when they were beaten 95-93 at Staples Center. That night, the Rockets led by double-figures for much of the second half, before blowing a 12-point lead in the game’s final 1:28, before being saved by a Shane Battier 3-pointer with just a few seconds left. The Lakers come into tonight’s game sporting a solid 3-3 record, which includes quality wins against two Western Conference contenders (Phoenix and Utah). The Lakers will need to secure a win against the Rockets tonight in order to avoid losing three of four games, and to maintain any early season momentum that they may have built up with their solid early season play.

After a loss against the Spurs last night in the season’s first “measuring stick” game, tonight’s game offers the Lakers another opportunity to measure their progress in a road game against another of the Western Conference contender.

Lakers’ Notes

Based on the assumption that Kobe and Tracy McGrady offensive numbers will effectively cancel one another out, it is imperative the Lakers control the tempo of this game from the outset and not allow the Rockets to establish Yao Ming’s inside presence early. The Lakers will need to speed up the game’s tempo, which will reduce Yao’s impact at both ends of the floor- particularly on defense, where not allowing him to fully set up on defense will provide opportunities to draw fouls against the Rockets’ big man. Since the Lakers do not have a big man capable of consistently battling Yao in the low post, it will take a group effort, led of course by Kobe Bryant, to take the ball hard to the basket at every appropriate opportunity.

As always, the Lakers will have to turn in a balanced offensive performance, looking to create early, high-percentage chances for interior players like Andrew Bynum Ronny Turiaf and Kwame Brown. Finally, ball movement in the halfcourt will be key, as the Lakers, who are shooting under 30% from 3-point range, will need to find open shooters around the arc when they have good looks available..

Defensively, the focus will have to be (as it always is) on limiting the number of quality looks for Tracy McGrady (Maurice Evans will be huge here) and Yao Ming and making every offensive opportunity as difficult as possible for them. However, in doing so, it will important not to leave the Rockets outside shooters, of which there are a few (Battier, Luther Head, Mike James) alone on the perimeter- as they did with Peja Stojakovic in their loss to the New Orleans Hornets, getting burned for a ridiculous 10 3-pointers.

Injuries continue to plague Lamar Odom, who in just his second game back from a shoulder injury, tore a tendon in his right (non-shooting) pinkie. Though he’s in some pain, Lamar expects to start tonight in Houston. In addition to Odom, Kwame Brown is still bothered by bursitis in his right heel, which limited him to just 14 minutes in San Antonio Tuesday night. The Lakers’ starting lineup should feature Kobe and Derek Fisher in the backcourt, with Lamar Odom, Ronnie Turiaf and Kwame Brown up front.

Rockets’ Notes

The Houston Rockets, who have gotten off to an impressive 6-2 start this season, are also finishing up a back-to-back set, having lost in Memphis to the Grizzles on Tuesday night, 105-99, despite 63 points from Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. McGrady, whose performance allowed him to take over the NBA’s scoring lead at 29 points per-game (Kobe’s at 28.3), made sixteen of his twenty eight field goals and added four rebounds and four assists in the losing effort. While they will obviously ride their their two superstars, the key for the Rockets (much like it is for the Lakers) will be to get some consistent performances from the supporting cast, who had only player in double figures (Mike James, 10 points) and shot just 37% (16-43) from the field. Despite Rick Adelman’s reputation as an up-tempo, offensive-minded coach, the Rockets will need to look to slow down the tempo of the game, allowing Yao Ming’s presence in the paint to have greater impact at both ends of the floor.

The Rockets come in without any significant injuries and should field a starting lineup of Yao, Shane Battier and Chuck Hayes up front, with Tracy McGrady and Rafer Alston in the backcourt.

What should we look for tonight?

Remember that the Lakers led Rockets for much of the game on opening night, despite playing without Lamar Odom in the midst of swirling Kobe Bryant trade rumors. Not only is Odom now back in the Lakers’ lineup, the team’s collective attitude, not to mention the increased balance in the offense, has improved dramatically in over the past two weeks. Also, with Houston’s next three games coming against the Spurs (in San Antonio), Phoenix and Dallas, there is a very real possibility that the Rockets may be looking past this game. Just as the Lakers found themselves in a classic “trap” game against New Orleans last week, the Houston Rockets are staring down the barrel of a “trap” game Wednesday night. Look for the Lakers to play well against Rockets once, this time having enough in the tank to pull out the win over Yao, McGrady & Co.

The Season Opener

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.