The Los Angeles Lakers wasted no time putting the hammer down on the Houston Rockets in Game 7, winning 89-70 and moving on to face the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals.
Kobe Bryant had a quiet 14 points in just 33 minutes, and it was his supporting cast that stepped up in this do-or-die situation. Pau Gasol had a monster game (after his critics said he couldn't play in big games), scoring 21 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Trevor Ariza scored 15 and Andrew Bynum had 14 for the Lakers.
No one was really able to get it going for the Rockets, whose leading scorer was Aaron Brooks with 13 points. Only two other Rockets scored in double digits. Ron Artest and Shane Battier combined for 10 points.
While Lakers fans (and basketball fans) were happy with the win, many did not have the same calm mentality that Phil Jackson had during this series:
CornerEyeCrush At the Shack... Lakers won thank goddddddd!!!!
soopasims the lakers looked good today. Lets see how they fair against Denver.
DJSliick Hey I'm only Goin For The Lakers Cuz I wanna See Kobe an lebron heavy weight match
mychalbarr Rockets put in work this series though. Made all the Lakers and fans realize were not just gonna roll. People will play us tough
Rockets fans were not too upset with the loss, especially because the team was without Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. The fans have good feelings about next year.
Casper1983 So the Rockets lost... so what..... they made it past the first round... thats all we can ask from them.. they are still a young team..
RedenCanlas Good season for the rockets...if yao stays healthy we have a chance for a championship in 2010
W_Eagles45 Rockets lost, but that's alright...The LA Kobes won't get past the Nuggets anyways...
joellopez What a season the Rockets had! I'm proud to be a Rockets fan! Just wait until next year!
