Los Angeles Lakers

Rockets Lose in LA, Drop from 6th to 8th in Two Games, Will Open Playoffs in OKC

Ultimately, it makes little difference where the Rockets play this postseason's opening series. As much as fans would like to see them survive and advance, the chances of doing that are extremely slim. Now, opening up against the current Western Conference champions, that task gets even more difficu ... More >>

A Surprising Amount on the Line Tonight for the Rockets in LA

It's always amazing that after 81 games, it can come down to a single contest between two teams. Such is the case tonight in Los Angeles as the Rockets face the Lakers in the final game of the season. For both, a win is paramount but for different reasons. The Lakers, the preseason favorite to win i ... More >>

Clearing Up the Western Conference Playoff Picture

I always find it amazing that after an entire season, spots in the playoffs and seeding can come down to the final few games. This year in the Western Conference it is no different. The east has been settled for over a week and there is only limited jockeying for position. But the west is deeper and ... More >>

Rockets Edge Closer to the Playoffs with 2-1 West Road Trip

The Rockets loss to Denver on Saturday night was almost a given. Very few teams who faced the Nuggets in Denver on the second half of a back-to-back travel game in the last couple seasons have won. It's tough to travel and play a game at altitude against a team that likes to run. Plus, the Nuggets a ... More >>

Rockets Could Get a Lot Closer to the Playoffs Tonight

It always shocks me that over the course of 82 games, teams could remain so close that it comes right down to the wire, yet, virtually every season, that is the case. With Portland and Dallas essentially falling off the map, there are five teams left fighting for the final four spots in the Western ... More >>

The Good News-Bad News for the Rockets as They Drive for the Playoffs

Last night was a frustrating night for the young Rockets squad. They had their worst offensive output of the season, scoring just 78 points (10 in the first quarter) and getting it handed to them in the most lopsided loss of the season against the team directly ahead of them in the playoff chase, Go ... More >>

Keep Hope Alive: Rockets Meandering Along Towards the Playoffs

"It's the same old story, same old song and dance, my friend." - Aerosmith All year, I've repeatedly said that following the Rockets is like riding a roller coaster. There are some tremendous highs and some devastating lows, but no matter what happens, it's always exciting. This weekend was more of ... More >>

Rockets Crush Mavs: 44-Point Third Buries Dallas, Probably Ruins Playoff Chances

It's never a bad thing when, in one night, you can absolutely destroy a Dallas sports franchise on the floor and, for all practical purposes, ruin their chances of making the playoffs. Given that the Rockets haven't beaten the Mavericks in nine straight tries leading up to last night's win at Toyota ... More >>

Beat LA: Rockets Take Out Injury-Riddled Lakers to Run Streak to Five

The Rockets faced a depleted Lakers squad missing three key players including Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard Tuesday night at Toyota Center in a classic trap game. The first game of yet another five-games-in-four-nights stretch for the Rockets against a very short-handed team makes for situation Coach ... More >>

NBA Season Jump Starts with Spate of Christmas Day Games Including the Rockets

In 2011, Christmas Day was the literal start to the NBA season thanks to a lockout that kept the season from starting for nearly two full months. Most every other year, the season starts in October, but for the casual fan, it doesn't really get going until Christmas Day. With the NFL taking the day ... More >>

Rockets' Ups and Downs Continue Despite Coach's Return

Check out pics from Saturday's close game against the Mavs in our slideshow. Kevin McHale was emotional at times when he met with the media upon his return to the team on Saturday night after an extended absence due to the illness and tragic death of his daughter. He kept in touch with the players ... More >>

Hornets to Become the Pelicans? Dear NOLA, Blame Utah

The city of New Orleans has been forced to suffer many indignities when it comes to sports. Whether it was the long period of disastrous play by the "Ain'ts", so bad that fans came to games at the Super Dome with paper bags over their heads; or the fact that the team currently known as the Hornets e ... More >>

Next Five Games Will Test Young Rockets Starting Tonight Against the Lakers

With a serious tragedy behind them and injured players starting to return to the line up, the Rockets dive into a string of games against contenders and Texas rivals this week that will add yet another test to the young team's season. First up is the LA Lakers, in town tonight at Toyota Center. Des ... More >>

NBA Finals: Series Prediction and a Few Prop Bets

Finally, it's here! If you had allowed David Stern to sit in a room with all 16 playoff teams on the wall by conference, and allow him to pick his dream matchup for the NBA Finals, it's without a doubt the Miami-Oklahoma City matchup we're getting here. LeBron versus Durant, big market versus small ... More >>

One Man's NBA All-Star Reserve Selections

Go ahead and chalk up the NBA All-Star Game taking place in a few weeks (Sunday, February 26, to be exact) in Orlando's Amway Center as the next "feels weird" moment of the NBA season. It feels like the season just tipped off a few weeks ago and yet here we are, about 20 games in, deciding who the b ... More >>

NBA Purgatory

Neither the best nor the worst, the Rockets remain stuck in professional basketball's great midsection.

Pau Gasol Thoughts, My Texans Prediction and Other Weekend Best Bets

Pau Gasol: The closest he'll get to Rocket red.​On November 23, the Texans signed quarterback Kellen Clemens to take over third-string duties. On December 4, the Texans signed Jake Delhomme and two days later they cut Clemens. I never thought there would be a less satisfying era for a Houston ... More >>

Comment of the Day: The Only Way to Ride Out A Flood

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

ESPN's Doris Burke's Difficult Week (w/ VIDEO)

Doris Burke and a moment of Zen​Of all of the on-air personalities who put their fingerprints on a sporting event -- studio host, play by play, color analyst, sideline reporter -- I've always thought that the sideline reporter has the hardest job out of all of them. It starts with the inhe ... More >>

Space Shuttles: Ten Ways Los Angeles and New York Can Show Theirs Off, Dammit

Bi-wing airplanes...pfft. Try this on for size, Kong.​This week, we learned that Houston, essentially the birthplace of the space shuttle program, will not be given one of the four remaining shuttles. Two of the four cities receiving them are both deserving and appropriate: Washington D.C. (fo ... More >>

Delo's Hood Politics Vol. 2 Best Local Mixtape Of 2011

​On his first tape, Hood Politics Vol. 1, Missouri City product Delo did one great thing ("Ghetto Boy"), one excessively beautiful thing ("Ain't My Style"), six good things ("Dream On," "Tell Me Mamma," "16 David," "Can I Live," "Hold On," "Money & Blood"), two bad things ("I Got Wings," "Hwy ... More >>

The 7 Basic WWE Metaphors For Real Life Situations (w/ video)

Let's get ready to....examine life!!!​I'm working on my 2009-2010 NBA Preview which should be done by tomorrow. I hope that some of you will cut me slack given that a whopping three games will be in the books by the time it gets posted here on Hair Balls, including the Rockets opener against the L ... More >>

The Week In TV: What Do You Watch During The Summer?

With Treme off the air, what are you going to watch the rest of the summer?​Blah blah basketball blah blah soccer blah blah I miss real shows. This was the week in TV Land: • Treme wrapped its first season last night with an episode that was probably among its best so far, though it also hi ... More >>

Ron Artest Releases The Song He Couldn't As A Rocket: "Champion"

No fans were injured in the making of this song​Former Rocket Ron Artest, the current Laker who thanked his psychiatrist after the Game 7 win, is celebrating his new ring with yet another rap song.The song has been written and sitting around for a long time, but Artest tweaked it to capitalize on ... More >>

Commiserating The Lakers Win With Five Predictions About Bun's Forthcoming LP, Trill OG

​Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, albeit sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. We'll incorporate the number five in there somewhere. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Ack. The Lakers won the NBA Championship las ... More >>

Summerfest Short Cuts: Mix Master Mike, Kid Sister, Miniature Tigers, Etc.

Marc BrubakerSpain Colored Orange​Spain Colored Orange: Although technical difficulties with one ticket scanner caused an enormous line of hot and restless festival-goers outside one gate, Spain Colored Orange started its set at 2:05 p.m. on the dot - before the gates had even opened. SCO informed ... More >>

The Five Best Houston Sex Scandals, Such As They Are

It takes two hookers to get James Worthy ready for Showtime​Houston is not a big town for sex scandals. Whether it's because we have a sophisticated European, laissez-faire attitude to such things, or because bigfoot Houstonians are better at hiding things, we don't know. Although we guess it's th ... More >>

Game Time: Five NBA Games That Need "Dollar Beer Night"

Back in the day, Arco Arena in Sacramento used to rock pretty good. Even when it was hosting a perennially lottery-bound squad, and the Sacramento brass was drafting the likes of Pervis Ellison first overall in 1989 and Bobby Hurley in the 1993 lottery, fans would still show up and represent.Ultim ... More >>

In Make-Or-Break Year, Rockets' Landry Looks To Fill Low-Post Void

Photo by Jeff Balke​There's a popular belief in NBA circles that the third year is when a player makes the transition to stardom, if he's going to make it. Among point guards, that worked for Chris Paul and Deron Williams, and much has been said about Aaron Brooks making a similar - though sma ... More >>

Ron Artest Wastes No Time Getting Crazy In LA: He Releases A Michael Jackson Tribute Video

You're taking a shower after a hard day at work, fuming over things that went wrong, when suddenly, you hear someone approaching.You turn around and see a large shadow, and realize it's not a friend, family member or even co-worker. Ron Artest has broken in, is evidently staring at you, and says he ... More >>

Oh, The Lakers Will Learn All About Ron Artest

On the way to his fourth championship, Kobe Bryant was guarded by Mickael Pietrus, Hedo Turkoglu, Courtney Lee, Dahntay Jones, Carmelo Anthony, Shane Battier, and all of the Jazz players whose names Jerry Sloan could remember. None of them had the combination of speed, size, and advanced weaponry ne ... More >>

Michael Jackson Memorial Underway

The Michael Jackson memorial service is underway at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Although Smokey Robinson has already expressed his condolences to the crowd, so far it's been a lot of talking heads; right now ABC News is discussing the market for MJ memorabilia. Here's a few tweets from our fr ... More >>

Michael Jackson Funeral Coverage Coming Tomorrow

Somehow the folks at West Coast Sound, Rocks Off's sister music blog over at L.A. Weekly, have scored the hottest ticket in show business in years: a ticket to Michael Jackson's funeral Tuesday at Los Angeles' Staples Center. So far Stevie Wonder, Jackson's old Motown boss Berry Gordy, Brooke Shiel ... More >>

Despite Loss, These Aren't Same Old Rockets

Photo by Katharine ShilcuttThe ending was all too familiar, but the ride was so, so different. Sure, history will show another Rockets season concluded without a title, this time on an 89-70 second-round, Game 7 loss to the Lakers on Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. And ... More >>

No Matter Game 7 Outcome, These Rockets Have Heart Of Champions

Photo: Jeff BalkeScrapper Chuck HayesThirty-seven million of the Rockets' approximately $70 million payroll sits on the bench in luxury suits instead of basketball uniforms. With Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady sidelined, the Rockets counter the Lakers' top scoring option -- only one of the best players ... More >>

The Rockets, Joining The Pantheon Of Those Who Gave Up Surprising Momentum

Hey, how'd those Rockets do last night?!Oh.In case you missed it, Our Rockets (and by "Our," we mean "team we started cheering for a week ago"), got shellacked by the Lakers 118-78. Everyone had expected the injury-riddled Houston team to lose like that -- in Sunday's game, which they had won.That ... More >>

Where Does Sunday's Rockets Victory Rank? It'll Have To Top These To Make The Top Five

Where does yesterday's deceptively close 99-87 shellacking of the Lakers rank in the annals of great Rockets victories? It's too soon to tell. If they build on that win by taking this series and then slip into their fifth NBA finals, minus not just Yao but also his geriatric Congolese understudy, no ... More >>

No Yao, No T-Mac, No Problem: Hayes Sets Tone As Rockets Tie Series

Photo byJeff BalkeThe opening to the Rockets' player introductions sounded as unlikely and frightening as the task of defeating the vaunted Lakers without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Somehow, "a 6-foot-6 center out of Kentucky" didn't deliver the same punch and energy as the booming "7-foot-6 ... More >>

Game 3: Early Missed Opportunities Haunt Rockets

The box score to Game 3 shows the second period as the only frame in which the Rockets weren't outscored on Friday night at Toyota Center. But in reality, it proved pivotal in Houston's 108-94 loss, which allowed Los Angeles to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The normally dynamic La ... More >>

Second Round Preview: Lakers Defense May Pose Biggest Threat To Rockets

The Rockets finally got the first-round monkey off their backs  last week, so what did the NBA give them as a reward? Only a second-round date with the prohibitive title favorite Lakers, beginning tonight at 9:30 in Los Angeles. It's a terrifying matchup by nearly every quantifiable metho ... More >>

Lakers-Celtics: Not with a Bang, Barely with a Whimper

Celtics-Lakers: The Boston Conundrum

NBA or WWE?

NBA Playoff Preview: Your Guess Is As Good As Mine

Jason Friedman's NBA Predictions: Mavs Beat the Jazz, the Suns, the Rockets and the Pistons, Take the Championship in '08

Seething in the Rain

Indulge Your Inner Yao

The ultimate Web site for those obsessed with the Rockets' big guy

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