Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant carried the Lakers on his back with 41 points and six rebounds, but it was Andrew Bynum's foul shots late in overtime that gave Los Angeles a 103-102 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Kobe’s 40 Spoils Ariza’s Revenge As Lakers Top Rockets
Bynum, who hit 3-of-4 at the line inside 44.2 seconds left in OT, had 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won three in a row.
Ron Artest poured in 15 points and grabbed six rebounds against his former team. Lamar Odom added 14 points and seven rebounds for Los Angeles, which beat Houston in seven games in the Western Conference semifinals last year.
Luis Scola tallied 16 points and 13 boards for the Rockets, who had a three- game winning streak snapped. Carl Landry had 20 points and eight boards off the bench.
Trevor Ariza ended with 15 points, nine rebounds, and five assists versus his former club while Aaron Brooks finished with 15 points and six helpers. Shane Battier and Charles Hayes each added 14 points. Hayes also had 14 rebounds.
With the score tied at 100 in overtime and the clock winding under a minute to play, Bryant missed a jumper from the corner. However, Bynum collected the rebound and was fouled on a layup attempt. He made both foul shots to put the Lakers in front by two with 44.2 seconds left.
After a Houston timeout, Landry made a hook shot at the other end to tie the game at 102 with 37.3 ticks to go. Bynum then made 1-of-2 foul shots to put LA ahead 103-102 with 24.7 seconds remaining.
After an Odom foul on the floor left the Rockets with 13 seconds, Ariza took the inbounds pass and was stripped by Derek Fisher, sealing the win for Los Angeles.
Houston scored the first six points of the fourth, as a Landry layup made it an 80-73 game with 10:16 remaining.
A Bryant turnaround jumper cut the deficit to 86-85 with 2:41 to go. Brooks then drilled a trey to put the Rockets ahead 89-85 with 1:33 left.
LA fought back with seven straight points to take the lead with 30 seconds left. Bryant got the flurry started with four free throws, tying the game at 89, and Artest sank a shot from beyond the arc following a Hayes turnover.
Landry took possession of a jump ball with 19.6 showing on the clock and found Ariza, who drilled a trey of his own to deadlock things at 92 with 14.2 ticks left.
The Rockets played great defense on Bryant during the last possession, which ended without the Lakers getting a shot off as the game moved to overtime.
Down 20-13, the Lakers closed out the first quarter with a 9-2 spurt to tie the contest at 22.
Los Angeles went on a 7-1 flurry shortly into the second to grab a six-point edge as Shannon Brown’s reverse layup capped the run. The Rockets responded with eight straight points to re-take the lead and never trailed the rest of the half, holding a 48-44 edge at the break.
A tight third period resulted in the Rockets nursing a 74-73 lead entering the fourth.
The Rockets outrebounded the Lakers, 54-48...Houston shot 45.3 percent from the field, while Los Angeles made 41.9 percent of its shots...The Lakers went 4-0 against the Rockets in the regular season last year.
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