"The last two days, all I heard was we weren't going back to L.A.," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "I just can't give our guys enough credit. After the game the other night, I knew we were going to come out ... and play with intensity and lay it all out there.

"This team is a special team, special guys. I knew they were going to play hard. We were going to defend better. This team, the way they listened and the way they went about the game plan and the way they executed, they've grown. And they just keep growing. This team has so much heart. And they don't care what people think. When Yao (Ming) went down, they haven't blinked an eye. We're just playing to see how far we can take it."

The Rockets have spent the season coming back from their worst losses. With their Game 6 win coming after a 40-point blowout loss, they moved to 13-2 in the game following a double-digit defeat.

"I've stopped trying to figure this team out," Shane Battier said. "When you think we're down and out, this team comes with an unbelievable effort. We might not have the most talented team, but there is not a team with more heart in this entire league. We've shown it again, and again, and again, and again."

ROCKETS 95, LAKERS 80: The Rockets did it again. Pushed to the brink of elimination, they pounced on the Lakers just as they did Sunday, rolling to a 21-3 lead. And when all but two points of that lead were gone, they rallied once more, taking a 15-point win to force a Game 7 Sunday in Los Angeles. As with their previous win in the series, they never trailed. As with that game, they were led by Aaron Brooks, who had 26 points. And as with that afternoon, they sent the Lakers home, with Kobe Bryant scoring well but shooting a low percentage and not getting nearly enough help.