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“If that was me throwing the elbow at Kobe, first of all, I would’ve hurt Kobe way more than he hurt me,” said Artest, who scored 25 points in Game 2. “I probably would’ve knocked him out with the same force he used against me."
Go Ron Ron!!!!!
Los Angeles at Houston Preview
Game info: 9:30 pm EDT Fri May 8, 2009
TV: ESPN
By Chris Duncan
Round 3 might be a more fitting label than Game 3 when the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets meet Friday night in the Western Conference semifinal series.
Ron Artest of the Rockets and Derek Fisher of the Lakers were ejected in separate incidents and a total of five technical fouls were called in Los Angeles’ testy 111-98 victory on Wednesday night that evened the series at 1-1.
On Thursday, the NBA suspended Fisher for Game 3after he decked Luis Scola with a shoulder block as the Rockets forward set a pick. Houston coach Rick Adelman called the shot “malicious” and said the suspension was justified.
“There was just no excuse for anybody doing that,” Adelman said Thursday.
Later in Game 2, Kobe Bryant of the Lakers hit Artest with an elbow that wasn’t called. Artest pleaded to the referees, then ran across the court and got in right in Bryant’s face, earning a technical and the ejection.
The league gave Bryant a flagrant foul one penalty on Thursday, meaning he will be suspended for one game if he gets three more flagrant foul ones during the postseason.
Artest was disappointed with the ruling on Bryant, saying NBA executive vice president of basketball operations Stu Jackson should look at the replay again.
Artest said Bryant landed his elbow above his shoulders, but Jackson said it hit Artest in the chest.
“If that was me throwing the elbow at Kobe, first of all, I would’ve hurt Kobe way more than he hurt me,” said Artest, who scored 25 points in Game 2. “I probably would’ve knocked him out with the same force he used against me. That’s why I’m not going to throw an elbow at somebody’s head. It’s dangerous. That goes to show me, that if Kobe hits me with an elbow, I can just get hit.”
So what’s in store for Game 3?
Shane Battier, who has guarded Bryant for most of the series, expects both teams to tone down the unnecessary roughness, because the referees will try to take immediate control.
“They’ll call a tight game, a lot tighter game than we’ve seen to this point,” Battier said.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson isn’t so sure the shoving will stop.
“They’re going to be physical, we’re going to have to meet that,” Jackson said. “I don’t think we have to retaliate, but we certainly have to be able to contest.”
Bryant, who scored 40 points in Game 2, said the Lakers are benefiting from the series’ ruggedness so far.
“I think it’s good for us,” Bryant said. “It elevates our play, it makes the game extremely emotional and kind of raises it to a fever pitch, which brings out the best in a lot of players.”
Artest said the Lakers want to prove they can handle physical play after losing to Boston in last year’s finals.
“They don’t want that to happen again,” Artest said. “Last year, that was the word on the street, that they got punked by the Celtics. This year, they came out tough, so I kind of respect them.”
Amid the confrontations in Game 2, Pau Gasol had 22 points and 14 rebounds and Lamar Odom added 11 rebounds, starting in place of struggling Andrew Bynum. The two helped hold Yao Ming to 12 points after Houston’s leading scorer had 28 in the series opener.
Houston committed 19 turnovers which Los Angeles turned into 23 points, one of Adelman’s main concerns heading into Game 3.
“We were really stagnant (Wednesday), we stood a lot,” Adelman said. “We’re turning the ball over because they’re very aggressive. They’re one of the best teams at guarding isolations, guarding post-ups. We have to get them out of their comfort level defensively.”
The Rockets, who took home-court advantage in the series with their Game 1 victory, went 33-8 at home during the regular season. But the Lakers compiled the league’s best road record (29-12), including two wins in Houston, so the Lakers are downplaying any edge the Rockets may have stolen.
“It’s 1-to-1,” Odom said. “If you consider home court an advantage, then I guess you could say so. But we can play on the road and I think that we have proved that the whole year.”
Adelman said Thursday that Von Wafer will play in Game 3 after the two argued and the guard was sent to the locker room during Game 2. Adelman said Wafer was just upset about being taking out of the game.
“He doesn’t have to like coming out,” Adelman said, “but it’s his job to accept that.”
Notes
Lakers:
Lakers coach Phil Jackson is breaking with his playoff tradition of wearing the most recent championship ring from his collection of nine NBA les. "I'm tired of wearing that ring," he said about his 2002 bauble. "I've been wearing it for seven years now." ... G Jordan Farmar played despite tendinitis in his right pinky toe.
Rockets:
C Yao Ming scored 23 points on Wednesday, but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. ... The Rockets were outscored, 30-14, in the final frame. ... G Kyle Lowry chipped in 15 points off the bench.
Team Stat Leaders
Points
Kobe Bryant LAL 26.8
Yao Ming Hou 19.7
Rebounds
Pau Gasol LAL 9.6
Yao Ming Hou 9.9
Assists
Kobe Bryant LAL 4.9
Tracy McGrady Hou 5.0
Team Comparison
Team Record Standings PF PA Road/Home Streak L10
Los Angeles 65-17 1st Pacific / 1st West 106.9 99.3 Road 29-12 Won 2 7-3
Houston 53-29 2nd Southwest / 5th West 98.4 94.4 Home 33-8 Lost 1 6-4
“If that was me throwing the elbow at Kobe, first of all, I would’ve hurt Kobe way more than he hurt me,” said Artest, who scored 25 points in Game 2. “I probably would’ve knocked him out with the same force he used against me."
God I hope ron artest tries to take over the series.
Nothing would make me happier than seeing Ron Ron try and win this series by himself.
Same reason Kobe hides out the first three quarters on Shane.
i don't mind any of this. I just think its sad that Kobe talks after every shot made. I would understand if it was vs posey or bowen. But battier? Comeon, no need for that. You're that good, so why are you acting like you need to prove yourself?
Shaq - 4 rings
Kobe-3 (all because of shaq)
you woul'dnt understand this because you dont play ball im assuming. it keeps a player on a mental edge. battier is a great defender who does an exquisite job on kobe for his effort. kobe needs to demoralize battier anyway possible to stop that face blocking technique that he's doing.im sure kobe's annoyed by it.
Kobe has 3 rings. Nothing you say can take that away. You can say Shaq was slightly more important but no championships would have been won without either of them.
Kobe talking is just playing it up for the camera. He's giving the fans a show and the haters something to talk about. Without Kobe you guys would be bored with basketball. without the Lakers ya'll would be bored with basketball right now. The Lakeshow is the best ticket in town, regardless of if you like them or not.
Excuse me, but are you forgetting Battier's championship at Duke? He has a championship pedigree.
Kobe cannot talk because he hides out. Unless the Lakers win it all, you guys have been on an extended fishing trip as well.
battier himself said that you can only slow kobe, you can't stop him. battier never trash talked him. kobe's just classless, but that's already been proven in his personal life.
bags everywhere flocking to thier bag champion.
OMG
Games 3 & 4 in Houston will be something.
Lakers may not come out alive of Texas
The only thing that could save the Lakers at this point is if the Rockets get overexcited in game 3.
Wouldn't it be sweet irony if the Rockets won this series, the Mavs somehow came back, but the Mavs lost in the WCF to the Rockets with Ron Artest going off on Josh Howard?
Great job Donnie, great job
Spur fan go home. You have no dog in this fight. This is for 1st round winners only.
Go play with Piston and Hornet fan.
Word. Artest is such a wild card, if he can't keep his head on straight he'll start shooting threes every possession with 18 seconds on the clock and take his whole team down with him. I hope the Lakers don't keep baiting him to torpedo the Rockets. Cuz he might just take that bait.
You have also got to join them, red heart takes 4.
Exactly he's 6-7, 270 and losing what little athletic ability he had. Kobe is 6-6, 220 soak and wet that's why Battier's guarding him, he's just too quick.
Plus artest is versatile enough to play Odom. And keeping him off Kobe reduces the likelihood that Artest flakes out and causes the whole team to lose composure. Battier is classy and smart enough to ignore Kobe's ridiculous taunting. No way Artest puts up with that throughout a whole series. He would have freaked out even earlier.
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