i was watching the Lakers/Rockets game and the Lakers were on fire the first half (they had a 19 point lead at one point/made 11 threes). the Rockets were able to sneakily come back in the second half by going to the line over and over and over. they even took a 6 point lead toward the end of the 4th quarter. i seriously have never seen so many calls go to a team before. almost every drive Harden attempted, he'd get fouls called his way. most of the time the defenders were barely making any contact and he'd get the whistle. not only does Harden initiate the contact and get his way with the refs, he pulls that eurostep traveling bullshit and rarely gets called for it.
just look at the numbers:
LAL 11-15 FTs
HOU 33-52 FTs
no matter how much the refs helped the Rockets, the Lakers tried that hack-a-Dwight trick and it worked. D12 was bricking free-throw after free-throw toward the last few minutes. Jodie Meeks made a three and got the Lakers within two with under two minutes left. the Lakers were still down by 2, were inbounding the ball with 10 seconds left and had it deflected out of bounds. they inbounded again with 3.4 seconds left and then this happened
right in bitch-ass Dwight's face.
this win was priceless (especially since the refs tried so hard to give it to the Rockets and the Lakers were without Kobe). D'Antoni is a clown, but i like that the Lakers are playing more team-ball (6 players scored 10 points or more this game).
highlights
i know no-one is expecting much from this Laker squad, but i think they're going to surprise some people this season.