[CHRON] Rockets hold off Bryant, Lakers in overtime

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4676993.html

March 31, 2007, 2:26AM
Rockets hold off Bryant, Lakers in overtime
By JONATHAN FEIGEN
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle

LOS ANGELES _ This time, when the Rockets tried to foul someone they did. They led by three. They sent Lakers center Kwame Brown to the line for two free throws. He missed both. The Rockets win was, it seemed certain.

It wasn't. When the rebound of his second missed free throw bounced 25 feet away, Kobe Bryant ran it down and nailed his 3-pointer and minutes after the Rockets led by 12 and seconds after they had seemed to secured the win, the Rockers were crushed and heading to overtime.

They were not, however, beaten. And if that did not defeat them, nothing, including all that Bryant would throw at them could beat them, until they rallied back from the blunder in regulation and a four-point, last-minute deficit in overtime to stun the Lakers 107-104 Friday at Staples Center.

"Just when it looked like we were done, we responded," Rockets forward Shane Battier said, "To become a great team in this league and to make the next step, you have to win games like this. You have to forge your team with adversity. There was a lot of adversity in overtime. Kobe was going. The crowd was into it. We kept fighting."

They fought through everything, from the rebound they somehow let get away to Bryant's 53 points, his fifth 50-point night in his past seven games.

"I was fine with our defense on Bryant," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy. I didn't have much problem with that. He's a great player. He took a ton of shots. There's only so much you can do."

With Battier, Tracy McGrady and Kirk Snyder all taking turns on him, Bryant made 19 of 44 shots. With the Rockets leading by 12 with 4 1/2 minutes left in regulation, Bryant scored 19 points the rest of the way, none bigger than the 3-pointer that forced overtime.

The Rockets had led, 95-92, with 16.1 seconds remaining after two Rafer Alston free throws. They had failed to foul Cuttino Mobley in time in the same situation on Wednesday, but when the Lakers inbounded to Brown, Yao wrapped him up.

"He's one of the worst free throw shooters of all time, especially in the fourth quarter," Van Gundy said. "The guy makes 31 or 32 percent in the fourth quarter. We got exactly what we wanted. They ran a play they run through him. You got to finish that off by getting the rebound."

Instead, Bryant ran it down and immediately nailed his 3. McGrady, who made just 7 of 24 shots, missed his jumper for the win, sending the game to overtime.

"Anytime you get the game sent to overtime on a play like that, a play you should never allow, it's tough, it's tough," Battier said. "But I'm really proud of the guys the way we responded in overtime. Down four in overtime, we could have folded. We didn't. We kept fighting."

Once in overtime, Bryant immediately put the Lakers in front and made three of his first four attempts, scoring eight more points as the Lakers went ahead, 104-100, their largest lead of the night, with 63 seconds remaining.

But Bryant fouled McGrady behind the arc, and McGrady, who was 15 of 16 from the line, made all three. Bryant missed a jumper, before Juwan Howard grabbed the rebound of a McGrady miss and found Yao inside for a layup, putting the Rockets in front.

"I was trying to be aggressive and get the rebound," Howard, who was 0 for 5 after an 0 for 6 on Wednesday, before making perhaps the key offensive play of the night. "I was going to go up for a jump hook and I saw Yao. He's so tall, you can't miss him. I was able to throw the little soft lob to him. Before that, I traveled and I was so upset with myself. It's good to make up for that turnover.

When Yao put it in, he had 39 points, making 11 of 18 shots, and blocking four shots.

"Obviously Tracy was struggling from the floor," Van Gundy said. "Yao came through in a big way."

But his biggest play might have been moments later. Yao and Battier trapped Bryant at midcourt to get the ball out of his hands. When he traveled over the line, the Rockets had the ball and the lead with 16.6 seconds remaining.

"They had Kwame Brown up high," Van Gundy said. "That's a good trapping angle. At that point in the game, you're just hoping anybody else but him shoots. It's a great strategy -- anybody else. That was a clear travel."

Said Alston: "I was shocked they called it, but he definitely could have gotten arrested for jaywalking."

Though Lakers coach Phil Jackson agreed, Bryant did not.

"They can make that call anytime in the game," he said.

"They deserved to win it in regulation; we deserved to win it in overtime."

The Lakers quickly fouled Alston, and after making his two free throws late in regulation Friday, just as he had Wednesday, he made two more with 14.4 seconds left, giving the Rockets a three-point lead.

This time, they did not foul and did not need to. The Lakers got the ball to Bryant in time to launch a 3, but when he missed, Yao got the rebound and the Rockets finally had the win that seemed their much earlier.

"We had to fight and grind it out," Alston said. "We almost let it get away from us. That was a game we should have won in regulation. All we had to do is secure the free throw rebound. But we hung tough, fought through it and we're able to make big plays and big stops to seal it.

"Coach said in the huddle, 'forget about it. We can't think backwards. We got to think forwards. It showed when we were down four with a minute left in the game."

But on a night like this, even after coming back from that, the resilience it took to get the win was not clear until the last shot banged off the rim and to Yao and the Rockets could be sure the win was theirs, and finally be right.