ROCKETS
The Rockets believed that Kobe Bryant had gotten away with a cheap shot or two in Game 1. Bryant had hit Shane Battier in the head with an elbow and knee, but it came in a loose ball pileup and the NBA ruled that it could not be sure how it all happened.
Then Artest took a Bryant elbow in the neck and decided he would force the league to notice. He charged in a long sprint to Bryant, getting within inches of Bryant's face until he was thrown out of the game.
Artest said he thought he would get only a technical foul, and Bryant said there should have been no more punishment than that. But Artest did say the league should review video of the elbow that set him off and now it will have to.
"Now, I play fair and square and I lose fair and square. I put my arm on Kobe. I touch. You see your man and the ball. Just basic defense. He hits my arm down. I'm telling the ref, he hits my arm. You can't do that.' Then he did it again. I tell the refs, 'You got to control this.' Then he throws an elbow right in my neck. I told Kobe, 'You can do whatever you want to do. I'm not reacting. I'm going to let the refs control it.'
"What am I going to do? I'm going to continue to get hit. In Game 1, he elbowed Shane. The league says he was just trying to get up. But in Game 1, he clearly was overaggressive on Shane. My team, we're not like that. We're going to win fair and square or lose fair and square. We're not going to initiate anything.
"You have to have (guts) to hit a guy like me in the throat. I'm hoping the league looks at it."
They will, along with Artest's actions after he was ejected and Derek Fisher's flagrant foul. The Rockets' greatest hope, however, is that after they argued that Bryant should have been at least fined after Game 1, the NBA will look at Game 2 with that in mind.
ROCKETS 98, LAKERS 111: The Lakers had hit the Rockets with their best, rolling up 39 first-quarter points, more than any team has scored against them since the Lakers had 39 in the fourth quarter in November. The Rockets could take that punch. They came back and took a lead. They could not, however, keep their composure when the game got physical. In a game with five technical fouls, two ejections and a flagrant foul, the Rockets finally cracked for good when Ron Artest charged Kobe Bryant and was ejected with the Lakers leading by 10 with 6:57 left. The Rockets never threatened again as the Lakers rebuilt the 15-point lead they had in the first quarter, with Bryant soaring and Artest not around to match him.
NOTES, QUOTES
—C Yao Ming expected the fronting defenses. The Rockets had a pretty good idea that Lamar Odom would start instead of Andrew Bynum, and that would move Pau Gasol to Yao. With Gasol defending him, Yao knew Gasol would station himself in front to deny passes inside.
Slowed by foul trouble, Yao took just one shot, a tip-in, through three quarters. Most of the game, however, the Rockets offense was fine. The problem was the fouls that kept Yao to just 26 minutes.
"We knew there was a strong possibility that they would start Odom and that matchup out there," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "Yao has just got to do a better job staying out of foul trouble and know that he's facing a guy that's more active and is going to put it on the floor and attack the basket on him."
—G Von Wafer was tossed from the game, but unlike Derek Fisher and Ron Artest, the officials had nothing to do with the decision.
Wafer protested when Rick Adelman pulled him from the game, throwing a water bottle. Adelman sent him to the locker room, playing the Rockets' leading scorer in the regular season against the Lakers just nine minutes.
Adelman and Rockets general manager Daryl Morey would not discuss the incident, calling it "a team matter." Wafer was unavailable for comment.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We're here to play, play hard, as hard as you can. We lost a little bit of composure." — Luis Scola
ROSTER REPORT
ROTATION: Starters — Point guard Aaron Brooks, Shooting guard Ron Artest, Small forward Shane Battier, Power forward Luis Scola, Center Yao Ming. Bench – Guard Kyle Lowry, Guard Von Wafer, Forward Carl Landry, center/forward Chuck Hayes.
PLAYER NOTES:
—C Yao Ming went from scoring 28 points in Game 1 to just 12 in Game 2, taking just one shot in the first three quarters while unable to get touches against the fronting defense of Pau Gasol. He made just 3 of 4 shots overall, added 10 rebounds while playing just 26 minutes because of foul trouble.
—F Carl Landry, whose career playoff high had been 13 points, scored 16 in the second quarter to help drive the Rockets' comeback from a 15-point deficit. He finished with 21 points, one shy of his career high, making 7 of 9 shots, and 10 rebounds. He could have scored more but made just 7 of 13 free throws.
—G Ron Artest had his third consecutive 20-point game, something he did just once during the regular season, but with 6:57 left he charged at Kobe Bryant and was ejected from the game. Artest led the Rockets with 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting but left the game with the Lakers leading by 10.
