RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
HOUSTON (AP) -- Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley decided it was
time to knock the NBA champions down a notch.
|  | | Kobe Bryant scored 15 for the Lakers Tuesday, but Rockets guard Steve Francis scored 23 to lead Houston to victory. |
Francis scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half and Mobley
led a fourth-quarter surge as the Houston Rockets beat the Los
Angeles Lakers 84-74 Tuesday night.
"I felt the same that I always do, I always feel intensity,"
Francis said. "We just played good. There is no other explanation,
we just beat them. I thought we passed the ball around tonight but
we didn't make a lot of our shots.
"If we can get up on everybody like we did tonight, it will be
great."
The 74 points tied the low for the Lakers' franchise since moving to Los Angeles, set against Cleveland in 1990 and matched against Denver in 1995.
With the Rockets leading 58-52 to start the fourth quarter,
Mobley scored seven points as the Rockets built a 72-62 lead with
6:20 left.
An 11-4 run by Los Angeles led by Shaquille O'Neal's four free
throws made it 76-73, but the Rockets followed with six straight
free throws to pull away.
Mobley added 18 points for the Rockets.
"That's our job, we're leaders on this team, everybody else
just follows," Mobley said. "We were breaking down their team and
finding the open man. Last year we beat them twice, it's no big
deal. Now we just have to go out and beat the other teams like
that."
O'Neal led the Lakers with 24 points and seven rebounds.
"Those are two young kids that play hard," Ron Harper said.
"They are fun to see. They get the basketball about 75 percent of
the time, so you know they're going to shoot and they're still
going to do their thing."
Hakeem Olajuwon gave the Rockets an early scoring boost and the
Lakers led only briefly in a first half that ended with Houston
leading 43-37. Olajuwon had 12 points, all in the first half.
"It was a pretty pathetic basketball game," Lakers coach Phil
Jackson said. "Both teams played poorly in the third, but they got
it together in the fourth and won the game. We had too many
turnovers and we just didn't play well tonight. We never got in any
sort of rhythm.
"The team was in a funk in the third quarter. It was an
emotional tussle out there for the players. They really didn't know
what they wanted to do, if they wanted to go inside or outside."
Olajuwon, showing no ill effects of the asthma-like breathing
condition that hampered his 1999-2000 season, has 10 of his 12
points in the first quarter.
The Lakers had six turnovers in the first quarter and 10 at the
half. They finished with 19 that led to 22 points.
"We didn't play well offensively, but defensively we hung in
there," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "Dream and Jason
(Collier) were great and we made some plays down the stretch. We've
got a long way to go but this is a great win."
Game notes
The Rockets hoped for another victory later Tuesday night
from voters on a referendum approving a new $256 million downtown
arena. Early returns had the issue passing by a wide margin. ...
Forward Walt Williams was sidelined with a sprained left knee
suffered when he landed awkwardly on the knee Sunday against
Phoenix. ... The Rockets haven't had a sellout in their three home
games this season. "When we start winning, people will come out,"
Francis explained. ... The Rockets were one of only three teams to
beat the Lakers more than once last season, joining San Antonio and
Portland.
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NBA Scoreboard
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Houston Clubhouse
RECAPS
Toronto 105
Boston 75
New York 103
Milwaukee 89
Washington 88
Chicago 83
Houston 84
LA Lakers 74
Phoenix 100
San Antonio 81
Portland 97
Atlanta 88
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