For most of the game, there was no blood, nothing worth the NBA's video review. The bouncer routines that marked Game 2 were not reprised a game later, with little that could be considered close to controversial.
Then in the last minute, Pau Gasol got loose on a breakaway. Shane Battier whiffed on an attempt for a steal. Gasol went for a dunk with only Ron Artest between him and the rim. Artest tried to block the shot but hit Gasol instead, sending him sprawling. Artest was given a flagrant-2 foul and his second ejection in as many games. The Rockets were back to waiting by the phone to see if Artest would receive the same suspension for his fragrant foul that Derek Fisher got for his.
They argued that the play was in no way unnecessary.
"They told me that he hit (Gasol) in the head, which I guess that's why they felt he had to be ejected," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "We'll just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow. It was a bang-bang play, and sometimes in this league if you hit a guy in the wrong spot it can be a flagrant foul. Pau was going in pretty hard, and it was just one of those things."
Yao Ming even said he would have fouled Gasol the same way.
"If I was there, I would have fouled hard too because I don't want them to get a dunk out of that or give them an and-one play," Yao said. "It looks like Gasol tried to dunk it. Most of the time in that situation you'll foul a little bit harder to prevent the and-one play. Ron is a strong guy and it just happens."
Artest did not seem too concerned that he would be suspended and said he thought the foul would be downgraded to a flagrant-1.
The Rockets, however, will have to hear from the league again, having fallen one minute short of an incident-free night.
LAKERS 108, ROCKETS 94: In many ways, the Rockets had just the chances they wanted. The Lakers offense, after another strong first quarter, was kept in check. Kobe Bryant was misfiring, making just 11 of 28 shots. Derek Fisher was in the hotel room sending Twitter messages. But in the ways they could never overcome, they had no chance, breaking down far too much offensively to really challenge the Lakers, falling behind 2-1 in the series. The Rockets made just 41.7 percent of their shots, committing more turnovers, 17, than collecting assists, 16. Yao Ming got more looks than in Game 2 but made just 6 of 14 shots. Ron Artest made just 11 of 23. And, just to break 90, the Rockets needed a late run after the Lakers had led by 10 with a minute left.
