Goran Dragic's three pointer with 28 seconds remaining gave the Houston Rockets the lead for good as they would go on to defeat the Los Angeles Lakers 107-104. The Lakers led by as many as 15 points in the first half before the Rockets closed things out with a big run.
Perhaps the tide turned for the Rockets late in the third quarter when Lakers center Andrew Bynum picked up his second technical foul of the game and was ejected. Houston ended up out rebounding the Lakers 40-31 and made big shot after big shot in the closing moments.
Courtney Lee and Luis Scola led the way for the Rockets scoring 23 points each. Goran Dragic added 16 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds including that big three-point basket that put Houston up for good. Chandler Parsons added 13 while Patrick Patterson chipped in 10 off the bench. Parsons drew the difficult assignment of guarding Kobe Bryant for most of the second half and held his own while making Bryant work hard for his points.
Bryant finished with a game-high 29 points but was just 10-27 from the floor and 2-7 from three-point range. Pau Gasol added 21 points while Bynum finished with 16 and seven boards in just 23 minutes of action. Ramon Sessions caught fire in the second half and finished with 14.
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