On Wednesday night, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers continued to play competitive basketball despite playing their second road game in as many nights, and the Lakers came away winners for only the third time in the 2014-15 season.
With Dwight Howard ruled out due to a strained right knee at the last moment, the Lakers went inside early and often. At the half, the Lakers had outscored Houston 24-14 in points in the paint. By the final buzzer, the Lakers held a 38-20 advantage in that category.
Defensively, the Lakers were packing the paint and preventing Houston from getting layups and fast break points. However, Houston took advantage of the Lakers' poor three-point defense. The Rockets made nine of their 19 shot attempts from the outside in the first half, and Kostas Papanikolaou was especially lethal off the bench.
The Greek national made four of his five shots from long distance to help Houston to a two-point lead at the halftime intermission.
In the second half, the James Harden came to life. After only scoring only four points in the first half, Houston's star player scored 13 points in the third quarter to provide the Rockets with a five-point lead entering the fourth quarter.
The deficit was partially due to Bryant struggling from the field in the third period. Bryant only made two of his 11 shots in the quarter, but he did find Jordan Hill on three straight baskets. Also Bryant was able to get to the foul line and entered the final quarter with 20 points and six assists.
As such, the Lakers were within striking distance on the road entering the fourth quarter.
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At the start of the final period, the Lakers looked to Carlos Boozer for points. Boozer made five of nine shots in the first half, but he missed on three straight shots to start the fourth quarter. Combined with the Rockets hitting their 15th three-pointer of the night, the Lakers fell behind by seven points.
Immediately, Lakers' coach Byron Scott brought back Hill and Bryant. Approaching the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the Lakers had already taken the lead behind a flurry of baskets from Nick Young. From there on out, the see-saw battle began.
Bryant continued to struggle with his shot in the fourth quarter and Harden continued to heat up. The Rockets stretched their lead to five-points at the two-minute mark.
Bryant, who had missed three of his four shots in the quarter, made a fall-away jump shot from the top of the key and got fouled in the process. After the free throw, the Lakers were within two points with 1:43 to play in the game. At the one-minute mark, the Lakers trailed by only one, as the chase was on.
Then, Wesley Johnson stepped forward and made a crucial steal on Harden before finishing at the rim and completing the three-point play. With the play, the Lakers took a two-point lead that they would never relinquish.
Bryant would finish with a game-high 29 points, and the Lakers won 98-92. Next, LA will travel to Dallas in the hopes to sweep the road trip.
