Luis Scola carried the load with 24 points and 12 rebounds as the Houston Rockets defied the odds by holding off the Los Angeles Lakers 95-80 to force game seven in their playoff series.
Luis Scola carried the load with 24 points and 12 rebounds as the Houston Rockets defied the odds by holding off the Los Angeles Lakers 95-80 to force game seven in their playoff series.
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Scola and his teammates out worked the lethargic Lakers to even the best-of-seven NBA quarter-final series at three games each.
Aaron Brooks led Houston with 26 points against the top seeded Lakers while Carl Landry came off the bench to score 15 points as Houston built a sizeable lead in the first half.
"We got active again against Kobe. He's going to make some shots. We toughed it out in the fourth quarter," Brooks said.
Game seven will be Sunday at Staples Center in Los Angeles.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he was hopeful Sunday but didn't sound excited.
"I am looking forward to Sunday's game," he deadpanned. "It is the next one on why not?"
Brooks said that once again everyone but themselves will be counting the Rockets out. They are playing without some of their stars, including Chinese giant Yao Ming who has an injured foot.
"We still have no chance. We will keep playing, though," Brooks said.
Lakers star Kobe Bryant scored 32 points and Pau Gasol chipped in 14.
This marked the third loss in the last 18 games when the Lakers have a chance to close out a series.
"We never had anything we could find to get to Scola," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "Nobody stepped up. Kobe had a couple running shots but we never really came back and they were able to convert."
Houston coach Rick Adelman said the plan was to out hustle the heavily-favoured Lakers.
"We got to push the ball at them and get open shots," Adelman said. "If we walk it up then we feed right into their hands."
Houston staved off elimination yesterday after a lopsided 118-78 game five loss that tied the worst playoff loss in franchise history.
Fifth-seeded Houston led by 16 points at the half and shot 50.7 percent from the field.
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