Clock strikes 12 for Rockets

Houston sees season end with loss to Lakers


LOS ANGELES — The Rockets pushed that boulder as far up the mountain as it would go, somehow shoving it past numerous injury obstacles and even on a few occasions rolling it over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Finally, having gone farther than often seemed possible, they gave out as soon as Game 7 began Sunday, and their improbable run in the Western Conference semifinals ended with an 89-70 Lakers rout that sent the Rockets home with a reminder of how difficult it had been just to get this far.

“Good Lord, we were ecstatic to be here, pushing the Lakers to Game 7 short-handed, so I have nothing but pride,” Rockets forward Shane Battier said. “It would have been better if we played better and had a better showing, but we were running on fumes.”

Having stunned the Lakers by taking the series to a seventh game, the Rockets virtually had nothing left. They missed their first 12 shots, trailed by 25 in the first half, and did not surpass 67 points — their all-time low in a playoff game — until the final two minutes, during which they scored their last 10 points.

“They got us on our heels the first two quarters, much like we did them at our place, and we just never recovered,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman said.

“I’m really proud or our team. I mean everybody — the way they responded. Losing Yao (Ming), we won two games after that. I’m very proud of these guys. They busted their tails. Some of those young guys really improved during the series. They had their ups and downs, like you’d expect. Today, more downs than ups. But overall, I’m really pleased with them.”

After Yao’s season ended with a hairline fracture suffered in Game 3, the Rockets blasted the Lakers early in Game 4 and then again in Game 6 to send the series back to Los Angeles. This time, the Lakers dominated from the start. But instead of blowing out the Rockets offensively, as had been done to them in the last two games at Toyota Center, the Lakers shut Houston down with defense.

Poor shooting contagious

The Rockets missed some of the shots they had knocked down at home, but more often they were unable to maneuver through the Lakers’ aggressive double teams or to hit 3-pointers over them.

“They played more aggressive,” Adelman said. “That wasn’t a big surprise to us — that they were going to extend their defense — but I thought we did some uncharacteristic things. We had a couple shots blocked when the shots weren’t even there. We passed into their hands a couple times. That’s on us.

“We didn’t respond like we needed to when we got down, and it’s hard to come back when you get down on the road, just like they found out.”

Aaron Brooks, who had driven the Rockets through their wins in Games 4 and 6, made just four of 13 shots, scoring 13 points.

Ron Artest was 3-of-10 from the field Sunday and made just 28 percent of his shots in the final three games of the series. Battier, whose long-range shooting was a key in the Game 4 win, made just one of six shots. Carl Landry, whose inside scoring was vital in Game 6, was 2-of-10.

“These guys wanted to win it so bad, I think we just didn’t want to mess up,” Artest said. “We were trying to do everything the right way instead of being relaxed and playing.”

When the benches were cleared with 2:40 left in the fourth consecutive blowout in the series, the Lakers led 89-58 and the Rockets had made just 32.9 percent of their shots.

Though Kobe Bryant never seemed to find his offensive game, making just four of 12 shots for 14 points, the Lakers dominated inside. Pau Gasol had 21 points and 18 rebounds, and Andrew Bynum made six of seven shots en route to a career playoff-high 14 points.

No shortage of heart

“If it was a nine-game series or an 11-game series, then we would have had a chance,” Landry said. “We took this team to seven games. This is a great team. Everybody has them winning the championship, and everybody wants to see L.A. and the Cavs in the (Finals), but not us. Everybody in this locker room has heart.”

In the end, that got the Rockets relatively far but not far enough.

“We gave ourselves an opportunity to win Game 7,” Chuck Hayes said. “We gave it the best shot we could.”