Poor shooting and poor shot selection led to the Los Angeles Lakers blowing a 12-point lead with just over six minutes left on Tuesday night, falling 107-104 to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center. The Lakers score 40 points in the first quarter and led by 15 points after 12 minutes of play, but scored just 64 points over the final three quarters.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 29 points, but made just 10 of his 27 field goals. He did score seven points on four possessions in the final two minutes, hitting three of four highly contested shots. Over his last nine games, Bryant is shooting 36.7% from the field, with a true shooting percentage of 49.7%.
Courtney Lee and Luis Scola each scored 23 points to lead the Rockets. Goran Dragic had 16 points and 13 assists for Houston, and hit the tie-breaking three-pointer with 28 seconds left.
Pau Gasol had 21 points and four rebounds for the Lakers, who shot 50.6% from the field. Andrew Bynum added 16 points and seven boards, while Ramon Sessions scored 14 points off the bench for Los Angeles.
Bynum was ejected in the third quarter after picking up two technical fouls, which certainly didn't help the Lakers.
The Lakers had a chance to tie with one final possession, down three points with four seconds left, but Sessions and Matt Barnes were unable to get the ball up the court to take a shot. The Lakers move on to face the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
For more news and notes on Lakers basketball, be sure to read Silver Screen and Roll.