http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2514517 Rockets fall to Lakers, 72-71 O'Neal's late basket gives Lakers victory in playoff opener By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle LOS ANGELES -- Had Kobe Bryant's shot been just a bit better, the Rockets likely win. Hit any part of the rim, and Shaquille O'Neal would not have been there waiting for the ball to land. Bryant, fresh off his magical finish in Portland, had made one of 11 shots in the fourth quarter. O'Neal had thundered around the court all night but had not scored a field goal in the second half. But Bryant's airball fell to O'Neal under the rim. He powered a dunk through Yao Ming's slap with 17.4 seconds left, giving the Lakers a 72-71 victory in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series Saturday night. And the Rockets lost on an airball. "Let's face it, we got our stop again and didn't get the rebound and compounded it by not fouling before he shot the ball," Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said. But the Rockets had 17.4 seconds to set up and play for the win, and if they didn't get just the shot they wanted, they did get a good one. Just as they had five years ago, 17 miles southwest at the Forum, the Rockets had a last Game 1 chance to beat the Lakers. On that night, Cuttino Mobley had a lane to the rim before O'Neal caught him from behind to slap the last shot away. This time, Steve Francis used a Maurice Taylor pick to break toward the lane and draw the defense before finding Jim Jackson alone in the corner. Jackson coolly launched his 3-point shot, but it caught the side of the rim and bounced away, enabling 18,997 in Staples Center to roar in celebration as the Rockets dropped an eerily familiar Game 1 five years after their previous trip to Los Angeles to begin the postseason. "That's a play I know Steve makes all the time," Jackson said. "I was ready. I knew once he got to the hole, if he didn't have the shot, he would look for me there. When I let it go, I thought it was in. I thought it was in." Francis had scored seven fourth-quarter points by driving to the lane. Jackson had scored five of his 11 four-quarter points by hitting a pair of jumpers, including one from the spot where he took his final attempt. "I'd rather get an uncontested layup," Van Gundy said. "But with 11 seconds (when they inbounded the ball after timeout) to get your best 3-point shooter the ball in his spot. Jim Jackson's hit a lot of big shots for us this year. He shot it with confidence. Steve passed it on target. Mo set a great screen." But for all their turnovers (22) and poor perimeter shooting, (they were 2-of-12 from 3-point range), the Rockets had done largely what they wanted. They took away the lane, forced the Lakers to shoot outside (LA made just 33 percent of its shots) and looked to steal the win in the last minute. "We go in there to play as hard and as well as we can, and believe if we do the right things, we'll be in the game late, and if we're in the game late, we need to come up with some big plays," Van Gundy said earlier. "I think if you plan on winning, belief is a big part of winning. You have to have that faith." The Rockets had that. But in scoring just one more point more than their fewest in franchise playoff history, they did not have enough offense. Francis led the Rockets with 18 points and added nine rebounds. But he had seven turnovers. Jackson made just five of 19 shots, Mobley just five of 13. "Everybody was excited, the first playoff game in (five) years," Francis said. "But we hung our hat on something we've done all year. Our defense was great. Cuttino did a marvelous job I think of containing Kobe Bryant. The thing that beat us tonight was our offense and our turnovers." O'Neal led the Lakers with 20 points but had 10 in the first quarter. Bryant made just four of 19 shots for 16 points. O'Neal had scored just one point in the second half, before the final minutes when he turned on Yao with 2:12 left, drawing Yao's fifth foul. But he missed both attempts, falling to 3-of-11 from the line. And when Francis caught O'Neal's head turned, he blew past Gary Payton and drew a foul on O'Neal, making both free throws for a 71-69 Rockets lead with 2:02 to play. After O'Neal and Bryant each missed, the Rockets had a shot that could have clinched it. Jackson, however, missed his 3, and Francis immediately and intentionally sent O'Neal to the line where he made one free throw to cut the lead to one with 90 seconds remaining. Taylor had a drive around O'Neal rim out, and the Lakers went for the win, and found O'Neal inside by accident. Playing their first playoff game in five years, the Rockets could not have been tighter at the outset. They needed more than four minutes to score, falling behind 8-0 before Francis tipped in a Yao miss. Francis had three of the Rockets' six turnovers in the first quarter and short-armed consecutive free throws into the front of the rim. Taylor picked up three fouls in two minutes. When O'Neal was allowed to rumble down the lane to grab the rebound of his own missed free throw, Jackson and Mobley started yapping at one another, a conversation that continued into the next possession. But the Rockets never fell behind by more than those initial eight points, trailing by six heading into the second half. They had 15 turnovers in the first half with they type of play Van Gundy called "frantic." But by the warm-ups for the second half, they were laughing easily on the court and played with a swagger. The Lakers made just one of 13 shots to start the second half, scoring only nine points in the third quarter. If the idea was to hang around and steal one in the end, it did not matter how the Rockets gave themselves a chance. They had their chance. The trick would be finding a way to make enough of it. "You always want to win," Francis said. "But sometimes it doesn't happen. "Coach told me in a series, you always want to forget the last game whether you win or lose. A lot of things didn't go our way, but we stuck in there and were almost able to pull it out on a last-second shot." -- Beat LA!! --

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