Houston Rockets Prepare for Liftoff, Aim to Conquer LA Lakers

The last time the Houston Rockets and LA Lakers matched up, it took overtime for Kobe Bryant and the hated Hollywood bunch to defeat the good guys in the Lone Star State.

And somehow, people in the league and beyond continue to overlook Houston’s Rockets.

For the team and their fans, maybe that’s a good thing.

Heading into their second game (this time in Cali) against LA, Houston holds a 5-4 record.

Just last night (Friday, Nov. 13), unfortunately, the Rockets fell to the Sacramento Kings in a lackluster performance for Houston’s tight-knit team.

After falling behind by a dozen or more points on multiple occasions, Houston battled back (and actually took a brief lead) before succumbing to Sacramento on the road.

“Good teams don’t win close games, they avoid them,” Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said through his Twitter account following Houston’s 109-100 loss to Sacramento. “Credit Sacramento for playing hard [and] together. We fought back in [the] second half, but on [the] road [we] need consistency for 48 [minutes]. Rebounding [is] a critical issue to correct.”

Houston aims to bounce back tomorrow evening (Sunday, Nov. 15) when they face the LA Lakers on the road, as Shane Battier and company look to build momentum for a team built on close chemistry.

“We were getting beat on penetration time after time,” Houston head coach Rick Adelman told Rockets.com writer Jason Friedman. “The effort was not where it needed to be. In the second half we shored it up some but we’re not going to win unless we come out with effort every night. We’re not that good. Our guys have to understand that. I didn’t like our effort the whole first half in a lot of areas.”

The Rockets hope to shore up and shape up as they head to Hollywood for a showdown with the Lakers on Sunday night in L.A.

With a brilliant GM in Morey, a phenomenal coach in Adelman and a born leader in Battier, look for Houston’s NBA team to break out of their mini-slump with a big Sunday victory.

Just look back to last year’s postseason play; the Rockets can win in LA

It’s time for history to repeat itself. There’s no better place for that to happen than in Hollywood…

Denton Ramsey may be reached via email at [e-mail]