Goran Drajic owns the clutch as Houston Rockets stun Los Angeles Lakers 107-104 – NBA Recap
On Tuesday night, Luis Scola and Courtney Lee scored 23 points apiece, but it was Goran Drajic who eventually stole the show as Houston Rockets recovered from a 17 point deficit early in the second quarter
to fend off the Los Angeles Lakers, 107-104.
Drajic had a game high 13 assists and scored 10 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter, including the go ahead three with just 28 seconds left on the clock. Kobe Bryant, who had a game high 29 points on the
night, missed a triple on the next Lakers possession and two free throws from Lee made it a five point game, 106-101, with 10.6 seconds to go.
Six seconds later, Bryant tried again from the land of three and this time he drilled it to give the Lakers a sniff. But, after Lee split a pair from the charity stripe, Matt Barnes missed a long ranger and
the Rockets held on.
The Lakers were on fire early. They made 17 of the total 23 shots in the first quarter to start off with a 40-25 lead. Pau Gasol had 10 points while Andrew Bynum had 9 in that frame, which was capped by a
20-7 Lakers run.
A turnaround jumper stretched Los Angeles’ lead to 17 at the start of the second, but the Rockets responded. Chase Budinger knocked down a shot from distance to initiate a 10-2 run and after the Lakers again
took the lead into double figures, 50-39, nearly midway, Budinger slipped two free throws to start another 12-4 spurt that brought the scores to 51-54 with just 31.5 seconds remaining in the first half.
Bryant closed the half with a deuce from the line and the Lakers stretched their advantage to 60-53 inside the first two minutes of the third. The Rockets took control after that and charged into the lead,
63-62, with a 10-2 run that was closed on a flush by Lee.
In the next four minutes there were five lead changes and four ties, before LAL pulled the trigger with a 13-2 run bridging the last 2:10 of the third and the first 1:47 of the fourth to carve out an 85-73
edge. Lakers held onto the 12 point lead going into the last six minutes of regulation and it seemed that they will seal the game with ease.
The Rockets had however still some fight left in them and within a span of 4:09, they erupted with a 17-2 burst to take a 100-97 lead.
With just two minutes to go, the Lakers were in trouble, but Bryant came to the rescue with jumpers on consecutive possessions to tie the game at 101. However, after Drajic nailed a three, the Rockets pulled
away.
Goran Drajic,
Houston Rockets,
Los Angeles Lakers,
NBA,
Luis Scola,
Courtney Lee,
Matt Barnes,
Kobe Bryant,
Pau Gasol,
Andrew Bynum
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