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After a year in the lottery, the Houston Rockets are confident to make it to the upper echelon of the Western Conference as franchise centerpiece Yao Ming is finally back on the floor after missing the entire 2008-09 season due to a knee injury. Thus, the Houston Rockets will head to California to face Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center on Wednesday at 2:30 a.m. GMT.

 

 

While the Lakers might have experienced some ups and down in the preseason, there is no doubt that the team around All-Star Kobe Bryant will be the team to beat in the Western Conference. After all, L.A. managed to win back-to-back NBA titles in 2009 and 2010, and got even better in the off-season by adding veteran point guard Steve Blake and forward Matt Barnes. Therefore, anything else than a win by Pau Gasol and company would be huge surprise on opening night.

 

 

You can watch all games of the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of NBA live streaming.

 

Posted: 16th Nov 2009

 

Getting off to a good start into this year’s NBA campaign, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers wasted no time in establishing themselves at the top of the Western Conference. Thus, the Lakers are eyeballing their sixth consecutive win when they host the Houston Rockets at Staples Center on Monday at 2:30 a.m. GMT.

 

 

Even though the Lakers are still playing without the sidelined Pau Gasol, there is no doubt about their dedication to defend their NBA in title in 2009-10. Holding on to an impressive 6-1 record, the team around Kobe Bryant might not have dominated their opponents each and every game but did an incredible job of closing out contested games. Already securing two overtime wins versus the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, Phil Jackson’s team was able to count on Kobe Bryant to take over whenever they needed him to perform. Likewise, starting center Andrew Bynum took his game to the next level as he dominated the low-post area, putting up 20.0 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per contest.

 

In contrast, the Houston Rockets posted a 4-3 record to start the season, but are still trying to figure out how to compensate the loss of All-Star Yao Ming. More specifically, the Rockets’ front-court is extremely undersized and experienced significant problems when matching up with dominant big men. That said, Rick Adelman squad still did a fairly good job of staying competitive with a shorthanded team and might stay in the playoff race down the stretch. One positive surprise has been starting point guard Aaron Brooks who leads Houston’s offense with 18.9 points, 6.7 assists and 2.4 rebounds per game. Considering said circumstances, the Lakers will enter their encounter with the Rockets as everyone’s favorites to clinch a win at Staples Center. Although Shane Battier might be able to contain Kobe Bryant to some extent, Houston is bound to run into problems in the low-post area. Arguably one of the best centers in the Western Conference, Andrew Bynum might have a big night versus Houston’s thin front-court provided he stays out of foul trouble.

 

 

You can watch all games of the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of NBA live streaming.

 

Posted: 17th May 2009

 

Coming off a 95-80 home win, the shorthanded Houston Rockets were able to tie the Western Conference semi-finals series versus the Lakers at three games each. On Sunday at 8:30 p.m. GMT the Rockets will face the Lakers at Staples Center for the deciding game seven.

 

There has been a heated debate whether Houston’s game four win without Yao Ming was a fluke or if the Rockets can indeed compete with their Chinese All-Star being sidelined. However, Ron Artest and the Rockets proved their critics wrong, coming out of the locker room with a lot of energy and an early 21-3 lead versus the Lakers. Although L.A. managed to make a run after half-time to cut the deficit to single-digits, it simply was not enough down the stretch. Houston played excellent team defense holding the Lakers to only 80 points while showing significant strategic improvements. Prior to Yao’s injury the Rockets mainly run half-court inside-out plays with their 7-feet-6 center, but his injury forced several game plan changes. In game six Houston did an excellent job of trying to push the ball and benefit from the speed of Aaron Brooks, Kyle Lowry and Carl Landry.

 

 

Aaron Brooks led the Rockets with 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting and 4 assists. Argentine power forward Luis Scola also had a big night finishing the game with a huge double-double consisting of 26 points and 12 rebounds. In contrast, Kobe Bryant was once again the leading scorer for the Lakers with 32 points but was only shooting 11-of-27 from the floor.

 

Without any doubts, the Lakers are everyone’s favorite to win game seven in Los Angeles on Sunday. After all, they are the number one seed in the Western Conference led by NBA All-Stars Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant. Moreover, the Rockets will have to play without their undisputed leaders Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. However, Houston has shown that they are going to play hard and were able to make some adjustments over the last games. If Shane Battier and Ron Artest can contain Kobe the Rockets will have a chance of advancing to the Conference finals. Likewise, their ability to push the ball and create open shots before the Lakers half-court defense gets set will be a key factor for staying in the game.

 

 

You can watch game seven of this NBA Western Conference semi-final series right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming.

 

Posted: 5th May 2009

 

On Tuesday night at 3:30 a.m. GMT Yao Ming and the Houston Rockets will make their way to Staples Center to take on the Los Angeles Lakers in game one of the Western Conference semi-finals. This much anticipated matchup will feature two very different teams who made it to the second round in 5 and 6 games respectively.

 

 

Without any doubts, the Rockets provide a tough matchup for any team in the league. Yao Ming at 7-feet-6 is not only able to operate in the low-post but also has a great shooting touch and respectable passing skills. To make things even more difficult, Lakers center Andrew Bynum has been injured for most of the year and did not look very healthy in their first round series versus the Utah Jazz. Thus, Lamar Odom who had a great post-season run so far will probably spend a lot of time trying to contain Yao.

 

The Lakers on the other hand have an excellent starting five and a deep bench as well as the most dominant player in recent NBA history. Kobe Bryant has proven countless times that he can single handedly carry his team to a win, be it as primary scoring threat or creating open looks for his team mates. Averaging 27.4 points, 5.6 assists, 5.0 rebounds at 2.8 steals per game in the post-season so far, he is expected to face tougher resistance versus Houston than in the first round. With Ron Artest and Shane Battier the Rockets possibly have the best defenders in the league to throw at Bryant, but considering Kobe’s versatility they would probably be more than happy if they could limit him to around 20 points per game.

 

 

Likewise, the power forward matchup between Argentinean Luis Scola and Spanish all-star Pau Gasol will be a hard-fought battle. Both players feature a similar style with a range of low-post moves and solid mid-range shooting. Ultimately, whether the Rockets will be able to steal a game in Los Angeles comes down to a lot of factors and match-up adjustments that can be expected to happen during the game. Tune in and watch this NBA playoff game right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming.

 

Tags: Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, Kobe Bryant, Steve Blake, NBA live, Pau Gasol, Rick Adelman, Aaron Brooks, Shane Battier, Western Conference, Lakers, live NBA, NBA, Los Angeles, NBA playoff