Houston, Apr 26: The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers 102-91 in Game Three of their first-round Western Conference playoff series. Steve Francis scored 27 points with nine rebounds and seven assists, leading the Houston Rockets to a 102-91 victory over the Lakers in Game 3 of their Western Conference quarter-final series on Friday (April 23). The Rockets bounced back from two losses in Los Angeles to win in front of their home Toyota Center crowd. It was their first play-off victory in five years. Cuttino Mobley added 21 points and Yao Ming scored 18 with 10 rebounds for seventh-seeded Houston, which shot 48 percent and won despite 11 turnovers. Shaquille O'Neal posted 25 points and 11 rebounds for the second-seeded Lakers, who shot just 43 percent. Kobe Bryant added 21 points in the loss, but shot just 7-of-20 from the field.


Near the end of the game, with the Lakers trying to make a comeback push, Francis sandwiched a Bryant three-point miss with a pair of acrobatic layups.


He was fouled on both plays, but only made the second free throw to give the Rockets a 97-86 lead with 40.3 seconds remaining.


Bryant missed a bank shot at the other end, and Mobley followed with a pair of free throws to cap a 9-0 run and seal the game for Houston.

Bureau Report