Too much pressure on the home team?

Whatever it did to the Rockets is hard to say. But missing was the energy they brought to Los Angeles earlier this week as they played oddly like a team sensing the end.

Instead the change of atmosphere from friendly Staples Center to hostile Toyota Center clearly turned the Lakers into a cooler, more precise Basketball team.

In a building filled with red seats, red signage and red-clad Texans chanting, wearing and holding the universal "Beat LA!" message, the Lakers regained control of the series, 2-1, with a 108-94 victory. It was easily their best game of the three.

"They've got good fans here," Lakers forward Trevor Ariza said. "They do a good job getting them into it. But we kind of quieted them down a little."

It felt over by the end of the third quarter, when the Lakers came out of a two-point halftime lead, moved icily forward and finished off the 12-minute session with a Kobe Bryant buzzer-beating, three-point dagger.

From an out-of-bounds play, Bryant fired in a line-drive from 30 feet. It was just a 12-point lead then, but the Rockets - already mysteriously lifeless - were done.

The Rockets played as if the hometown perks would take care of everything, their offense slow, stagnant and susceptible to Lakers steals (11) and blocks (nine), and pestering hands.

The Rockets had 17 turnovers, the Lakers only six.

"We just picked it up defensively," said Lakers forward Lamar Odom, referring to the third quarter which his team controlled, 24-14. "It wasn't anything new."

Most impressive was their work on Houston's centerpiece Yao Ming, who made only six of 14 shots, and had two layups spectacularly blocked by Bryant, who measures a foot shorter than the 7-6 Yao.

In any case, Game 3 was a completely different experience. The flagrant fouls and quick tempers of Wednesday night's game gave way to a dispassionate feel more akin to a regular season contest - a change the Lakers welcomed, since they had the Rockets number in all four regular season games.

The only action came near the end when Ron Artest was ejected for a hard foul on Pau Gasol, a penalty that seemed unwarranted.

No doubt the Lakers prefer pure Basketball to the distraction of postseason rumbles.

It was a particularly satisfying night for Jordan Farmar, the point guard whose visibility had been fading for weeks like a science fiction character being slowly beamed particle by particle off the planet.

With Derek Fisher's No. 2 uniform hanging unused, Farmar filled in for the suspended guard with a much-needed calm.

In the noisy, potentially chaotic environment, he was a steadying presence early, dishing out four assists in the first quarter as the Lakers began their methodical erosion of the Rockets home-court advantage. Farmar finished with 12 points, seven assists, two steals, a block and only one turnover.

"The only thing I wanted to do was control the tempo, keep everyone involved," said Farmar, who was happy to play a role in flipping the switch on the arena noise level. "It's a great building. The key was keeping the game under control, which kept the crowd out of it."

Not to mention the Rockets.

Reach Gregg Patton at 951-368-9597 or gpatton@PE.com