HOUSTON (AP) -- Shaquille O'Neal was a non-factor for half of the
game, and he wasn't happy about it afterward.
The Houston Rockets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 102-91
Friday night, cutting Los Angeles' lead to 2-1 in their
best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series.
Steve Francis hit two late acrobatic buckets, and Yao Ming and
Maurice Taylor made solid contributions. But the main factor in
this game -- or non-factor, as was the case -- was the Lakers not
sticking with what worked early and late.
"I'm proven like two plus two. I shouldn't have to say
anything. They should know," O'Neal said. "We have to stick with
what got us the lead. I got the ball and I was doing my thing, then
I didn't see it for a while. That's been going on all year."
It was a rare Game 3 loss on the road for a team coached by Phil
Jackson with a 2-0 series lead. His teams, when given a chance to
take an all-but-insurmountable 3-0 lead, have historically gotten
it.
In this case, however, the middle two quarters proved to be the
Lakers' undoing. O'Neal scored 25 points, 11 coming in the first
few minutes and 10 more in the fourth quarter.
"Well, maybe we should get him the ball more," Karl Malone
said.
Francis had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, Cuttino
Mobley added 21 points, Yao scored 18 and Taylor came off the bench
to add 16 as the Rockets thrilled their fans in the first playoff
game in Houston since 1999.
The series resumes with Game 4 on Sunday.
"We haven't done anything. This is not about pounding our
chests after one win," said Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy, who
pulled Yao and Francis away as they were about to do a live
television interview shortly after the game.
Aside from the mysterious 24-minute disappearance of O'Neal,
another huge factor was Houston's 3-point shooting.
The Rockets, who had made only five 3s in the first two games of
the series, had nine of them -- including four by Francis and three
by Jim Jackson.
Los Angeles was hurt by 10 missed free throws -- nine by O'Neal.
After Francis drove through several defenders and hit a twisting
layup while being fouled for a 92-86 lead with 1:07 left, Bryant
jacked up a long 3-pointer that missed. Francis then banked in a
difficult off-balance shot with 40 seconds left and completed a
three-point play for a 97-86 lead.
"Playoff basketball: Sometimes it's up, sometimes it's down,"
O'Neal said.
O'Neal had 11 of the Lakers' first 13 points, having his way
against the single coverage of Kelvin Cato before the Rockets
started double-teaming him and the Lakers stopped passing to him.
"He probably got tired from scoring so much," Van Gundy said.
O'Neal took just one shot in the second quarter and missed it,
and he picked up his second and third fouls late in the quarter and
walked angrily to the bench.
It was 56-43 at intermission, and it took O'Neal almost four
minutes to get his next field goal. The Lakers pulled to 62-56 on a
3-pointer by Gary Payton, but they never got any closer until 2:08
remained.
With Los Angeles trailing by 10 late in the third period, Bryant
tossed up a 3-point shot with plenty of time remaining on the shot
clock. It missed, and coach Phil Jackson shook his head in disgust
as the teams went the other way. Taylor scored the final basket of
the period to give Houston a 74-62 lead entering the fourth.
With Taylor providing the bulk of the offense, the Rockets were
able to stay in front by at least six points throughout most of the
fourth quarter.
"I had to be aggressive and turn it on for us to win," Taylor
said. "I hadn't been aggressive in the first two games."
A leaning bank shot in the lane by Bryant made it 90-86, but Yao
answered with a soft left-handed half-hook shot to start the
decisive 7-0 run.
Kobe Bryant scored 21 and Karl Malone 18 for the Lakers.
Payton, angered when he was benched for the entire fourth
quarter of Game 2, did not play in the fourth quarter again.
"I don't care. Whatever he (Jackson) wants to do. It's on
him," Payton said.
Game notes
Kobe Bryant spoke with the media after the game, ending an
11-day boycott. "I put it behind me and move on." ... Referee
Eddie F. Rush left with an injury late in the fourth quarter, and
the other two officials worked the final 1:51 without him. ...
Lakers F Slava Medvedenko was out with a strained right Achilles'
tendon. ... In Lakers history, they have gone 32-1 when taking a
2-0 lead in a playoff series. The lone loss was to Boston in the
1969 NBA Finals. ... In his last 19 postseason games, Derek Fisher
is shooting 42-63 from 3-point range.