National Basketball Association
L.A. Lakers 99, Houston 98
When: 9:30 PM ET, Thursday, November 7, 2013
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
Officials:
#30 John Goble, #43 Dan Crawford, #18 Matt Boland
Attendance:
18133
By SportsDirect Inc.
Lakers 99, Rockets 98: Steve Blake hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining as visiting Los Angeles stunned Houston for its first road win.
Jodie Meeks hit five of the Lakers' 16 3-pointers and led the way with 18 points. Wesley Johnson had 16 and Blake finished with 14 for Los Angeles, which lost an early 19-point lead but closed the game on an 8-1 run.
James Harden paced Houston with 35 points but missed a pull-up jumper with 12.9 ticks remaining that might have iced it. Dwight Howard had 15 points and 14 rebounds against his former team, going 5-for-12 from the line down the stretch as the Lakers chose to foul him repeatedly to stem a Rockets charge.
Howard made a pair at the line with 2:40 left to give Houston a 97-91 advantage but made just one of his next six attempts. Two foul shots by Steve Nash and a 3-pointer by Meeks pulled Los Angeles within 98-96 and, after Harden's miss, Blake took an in-bounds pass all alone from the left wing and buried it.
The Lakers made 11-of-14 3-pointers in the first half, including one by Meeks with 15.8 seconds left, to take a 64-50 lead into the locker room. Chris Kaman's jumper 4:19 into the third kept it a 14-point margin before Houston began to chip away, as Jeremy Lin scored eight points in a 15-3 burst that made it 74-72 late in the stanza, setting up a back-and-forth final quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Houston missed seven straight free throws in the second quarter and finished 33-for-52 from the line. Howard was 5-for-16. ... Los Angeles was 4-for-20 from beyond the arc in the second half before Blake's decisive shot. ... Lin and Chandler Parsons both scored 16 points for the Rockets.
Top Game Performances
L.A. Lakers |
|
Houston |
Jodie Meeks 18 |
Scoring |
James Harden 35 |
Jordan Farmar 7 |
Assists |
James Harden 5 |
Pau Gasol 12 |
Rebounds |
Dwight Howard 14 |
Steve Nash 4 |
Free Throws Made |
James Harden 14 |
Chris Kaman 2 |
Steals |
James Harden 4 |
Jordan Hill 2 |
Blocks |
James Harden 2 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
L.A. Lakers
|
99 |
39.1 |
16-35 |
11-15 |
26 |
47 |
6 |
8 |
24 |
Houston
|
98 |
37.7 |
7-27 |
33-52 |
17 |
44 |
7 |
12 |
18 |
Upcoming Games
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Houston will play their next game at home against L.A. Clippers. The Rockets have a W/L % of .600 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
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L.A. Lakers will play their next game on the road against New Orleans. The Lakers have a W/L % of .333 after a win and .667 after a loss.