Home » Sports » Basketball
Blake lifts Lakers over Rockets
Print Edition
Steve Blake’s three-pointer with 1.3 seconds remaining lifted the Los Angeles Lakers to a 99-98 National Basketball Association victory over the Houston Rockets and former Laker Dwight Howard on Thursday.
Howard, who never seemed to settle in with the Lakers last season and inked a four-year, US$88 million deal with the Rockets in July, had 15 points and 14 rebounds.
But he made just 5-of-16 from the free-throw line, including two crucial misses with 53.8 seconds left and the Rockets leading 98-96.
“The free throws were terrible,” Howard said. “I’ve got to keep working ... I’ve just got to get back in the gym and keep working — they’re going to fall.”
Howard said the defeat — after Houston had battled back to take the lead, having trailed by as many as 19 points — was hard to swallow, regardless of the opponent. “Nobody likes to lose,” he said. “So it’s very upsetting that we lost the way we did.”
Elsewhere, the Miami Heat held off the Los Angeles Clippers 102-97 and the Denver Nuggets edged the Atlanta Hawks 109-107.
James Harden led the Rockets with 35 points. But when he missed a jump shot with 12 seconds left, Los Angeles’ Pau Gasol grabbed the rebound and called a time-out with 10.9 seconds to play.
The Lakers’ Jodie Meeks then threw away an inbound pass, but Wes Johnson tracked down the loose ball to keep it in the Lakers’ hands with less than four seconds to play — setting the stage for Blake.
Coming off a double screen, Blake got a wide open look from the left and lofted a shot over Howard’s outstretched arms.
Los Angeles, playing without superstar Kobe Bryant as he continues his recovery from a ruptured Achilles tendon, notched its first road win of the young NBA season.
“It was huge,” Blake said. “Mainly because we were struggling our last two road games, we got blown out.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
