News / Sports
NBA Scores: Yao Ming Too Much for Lakers as Houston Rockets Win in Overtime
Yao Ming had 39 points and 11 rebounds while Tracy McGrady had 30 points and 10 assists as the Houston Rockets (47-26) overcame a 53 point performance from Kobe Bryant to beat the Los Angeles Lakers (38-34) win 107-104 in overtime.
Ming scored 12 points in the opening quarter and McGrady added ten to give the Rockets a 31-22 lead after one.
Kobe opened the second quarter with the first eight points for the Lakers and trimmed their deficit to three. Los Angeles would take a brief the lead on a Lamar Odom hook shot with 3:40 left but the Houston finished the half on a 9-3 run and went into the break with a 53-48 lead.
Houston was able to use a 7-0 run late in the third to bump a one point lead up to 73-65 and the finished the quarter with a 75-67 advantage.
Both teams struggled from the floor early in the fourth until McGrady buried a three-pointer after three and a half minutes had elapsed. Rafer Alston then gave Houston a ten point lead with a triple The Rockets extended their lead to twelve with 4:30 left in the game but that’s when Kobe went off. Over the next four minutes the Lakers star scored 17 points, his final three on a triple with 11 seconds left to tie the score at 95-95 and send the game to overtime.
In the extra period Bryant gave the Lakers a three point lead after scoring his team’s first eight points. Lamar Odom extended the lead to four after hitting one of two from the foul line with 1:02 left on the clock.
Just as quickly as the Lakers got back into the game they worked their way out of it. Bryant fouled McGrady on a three-pointer and the Houston guard hit all three from the line to bring the Rockets to within one. Kobe then missed an open jumper and Yao hit a layup to put the Rockets up by one. Kobe was then called for traveling with 16 seconds left and the Lakers were forced to foul Alston who then dropped both free-throws with 14 ticks left. Kobe’s final three point attempt fell shot and the Rockets escaped LA with the road win.
Lamar Odom finished with 16 points and 17 rebounds in the Lakers loss. Kobe Bryant finished with 53 points but accounted for half of the Lakers 88 shots.
