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The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Houston Rockets by a final score of 112-107, and for the fourth time in less than two weeks, Andrew Bynum was not on the floor for the deciding moments. First, he was benched for ridiculous antics against the Golden State Warriors. Then, through no fault of his own, he missed the 4th quarters of two very close games with a sprained ankle. Tonight, for the 2nd time this season (both ironically coming against the Houston Rockets), Bynum couldn't figure out when to shut up while sitting on a technical foul, and was tossed at the beginning of the fourth quarter for taunting the Rockets bench after a made shot.
This wasn't a particularly great game for any Laker, except for the exceptional Metta World Peace. MWP had a season high 23 points on 13 shots, abusing his defenders with brute strength in the post and a particularly quick first step all night long. Other than that, Kobe got his points, but didn't shoot great, and could not come up with the plays down the stretch that he has been the past week. Pau Gasol got his double double, but not much else, and Ramon Sessions played one of his worst games as a Laker, struggling from the field while still filling the box score with 10/7/6. And the bench scored a combined 13 points, though credit must be given for the tremendous energy they played with, especially Matt Barnes (13 rebounds off the bench) and Josh McRoberts.
But the Lakers once again find themselves disappointing losers after a big win. They have a decent excuse, having played a ton of basketball in the past week, but Andrew Bynum has none, as per usual.