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In a shocker that came down to the wire, the Kobe Bryant-less Lakers defeated former teammate Dwight Howard and the Houston Rockets 99-98. Before tip-off, Houston was the clear favorite, but the young Los Angeles team rallied to seal the win.
After numerous mistakes down the stretch (including giving up a 19-point lead), the Lakers had one chance left to seal the victory. That was at the hands of Steve Blake, who hit the game-winner from the corner with 3.1 seconds left to go in the game.
The Rockets tried to counter, but Patrick Beverley’s 3-point desperation shot fell short.
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Houston was led by the efforts of James Harden, who scored 35 points, as well as Dwight Howard, who finished the night 15 points and 14 boards. The Lakers strategy of Hack-A-Howard worked to perfection, because Dwight missed some key free throws (7 to be exact) in the last three minutes, that could have sealed the W for the Rockets.
The Lakers leading scorer was Jodie Meeks, sinking 18 points in their win.