This game had the classic story line of a former player going up against his old team. It felt like Dwight Howard vs. the Lakers instead of the Rockets vs.the Lakers. As the game started it was relevant that this wasn't just about Howard trying to prove his worthiness against his old team, but the Lakers trying to prove to Howard that they didn't need him. That was indeed the case tonight as the Lakers got a much needed road victory against Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets. 99-98.
The Lakers got off to a hot start in the first quarter with Steve Blake hitting a barrage of threes, making Jeremy Lin and Patrick Beverly scratch their heads wondering where Blake got his stroke from. The Rockets on the other hand came out slow with no kind of urgency, and the Lakers took full advantage of it. The Lakers decided to practice their three point shooting against the Rockets who thought the Lakers would just roll over and die.
The Rockets literally let the Lakers do whatever they wanted in the first quarter that was capped off with a Wesley Johnson 3 pointer, giving the Lakers a 36 to 19 lead going into the second quarter.
The second quarter seen the same results from the Rockets. The Lakers continued to shoot the lights out and gave Rockets fans a show that they didn't want to see from the opposing team. None of it was fancy on the Lakers part, but they were extremely effective.
The Rockets had no answers at all, Harden and Parsons played decent in the quarter, but just couldn't find a rhythm with the rest of the team. Houston's high points were when they got into the open court, but seemed to make horrible decisions with the ball. Jeremy Lin was using his size and athleticism to get to the rim, but failed to finish each time.
The Rockets continued to make strides toward the end of the quarter, but when the Lakers second unit came in, it seemed that Houston had no clue of how to handle them. The Lakers Nick Young made some bone head plays, but the energy and heart displayed from Jordan Farmar and Wesley Johnson made up for it. The Lakers continued to crush Houston from behind the three point line hitting 11 of 14 threes, and going into the half with a 14 point lead; 64-50.
The third quarter started with the Rockets going after a momentum shift that they did in fact get. They played faster and were more comfortable. Howard scored the first bucket of the half, and had the look of a man who wanted to finally prove himself after a lazy first half with just 6 points and 10 rebounds. Howard's talent was clearly not on display tonight, as he played like an average player who commands attention, but doesn't back it up.
As the thrid quarter went on, the Rockets Chandler Parsons had slashed to the rim for a one handed dunk over the Lakers Chris Kamen. Parsons dunk revived the crowd and got the Rockets to finally play defense in what was becoming a blowout. With under 4 minutes to go James Harden slashed to rim and brought the Rockets to within 5. On the very next possession Wesley Johnson gave the Lakers their cushy lead back with a go ahead 3 pointer. The Lakers second unit was enough to win the third quarter, but the fourth quarter would be a different story.
The Lakers nice cushy lead was crashed when James Harden tied the game in the fourth quarter at 84 apiece with 9:54 left in the quarter. At that point, the Lakers momentum was all but gone. Harden wasn't finished yet, he found an open Chandler Parsons cutting along the baseline for an open dunk that gave the Rockets their first lead since the beginning of the first quarter. The lead was now 93-91 with Houston riding the momentum of James Harden and his beard!
At this point in the game it looked like the Rockets were clearly going to run away with the game, but the Lakers showed tremendous poise by battling back into the game. Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni didn't let his team roll over to the Rockets because this game was just as important to him as well. The Lakers needed this game in order to build confidence for themselves going forward and this game showed that they can indeed battle with the best.
Mike D'Antoni kept the Lakers alive by going into the "Hack-A-Howard" mode with under three minutes to go in the game. The move paid off, Howard went five for sixteen from the free throw line, and in the process keeping the Lakers in the game. Despite Howard's free throw woes, the Rockets looked like they were going to squeeze out a win against a Laker team filled with underdogs, but Jodie Meeks hit a desperation three cutting the Rockets lead to two; 98-96.
Howard had one more chance to seal the victory for his team, but missed both free throws. The Lakers had 10 seconds left to work with, and proved to Howard and his new running mates that they wanted to win!
Jodie Meeks tried in-bounding the ball to Steve Nash, who wasn't looking, but Wesley Johnson recovered the ball before it went out of bounds, drove to the basket, and drew the foul. Johnson's hustle gave the Lakers one last shot to spoil Howard's night. Meeks in-bounded the ball again, this time to Steve Blake who hit the game winning three from the corner to give the Lakers a 99-98 lead with 1.3 seconds left.
The Lakers spoiled Howard's night by winning the game in dramatic fashion. The script couldn't have been written any better. Howard leaves the Lakers for a up and coming Rockets team, and gets burned not by Kobe Bryant or Pau Gasol, but by Steve Blake! Blake was the unsung hero for the Lakers tonight who now have their first road win of the season, and it came at the expense of Howard and the Houston Rockets. The Houston Rockets may have a problem, while the Lakers seem to have got rid of theirs when Howard went to Houston... Peace!
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