Ron Artest and Trevor Ariza traded elbows, trash talk and last-minute 3-pointers in regulation. In the end, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers got in the last word. Bryant scored 41 points, Andrew Bynum added 17 points and 17 rebounds and the Lakers beat the Houston Rockets 103-102 Wednesday night for their second overtime win in two nights.
Missing stars Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, the Houston Rockets are counting quite a bit on their 3-point shooting early in the season. So far, it's only gotten them off to a 3-1 start. Rookie Chase Budinger scored a career-high 17 points and was one of four Houston players with multiple 3-pointers as the Rockets beat the Utah Jazz 113-96 on Monday night.
No Yao Ming. No Tracy McGrady. No problem for the Houston Rockets. Trevor Ariza, making the move from the Lakers this season, scored a career high 33 points, Aaron Brooks added 28 points and the Rockets held on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers at home for the fifth straight time in regular season, 111-107 Saturday night.
Kevin Garnett went down. Luckily for Boston, it was only for a second. Garnett hit the floor after missing on an attempted alley-oop just over five minutes into the preseason opener against Houston on Wednesday night. To the Celtics' relief, he quickly got back up and hit two free throws. Garnett scored six points and grabbed five rebounds in the Rockets' 96-90 victory.