Kobe Bryant 31 points vs Rockets 2002-03 *SHAQ vs YAO PART 2

March 26th, 2003
Compaq Center
Houston, TX

Boxscore: http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200303260HOU.html

Statline: 31 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 10-22 FG, 11-12 FT

It was not just Kobe Bryant's best individual season of his career, but also one of the greatest in NBA history. The Los Angeles Lakers, defending champions that struggled early on in the season, were getting their rhythm back. But of course, in their next game, the center of attention was Shaquille O'neal vs Yao Ming: Part 2. In the previous meeting, Yao Ming blocked Shaq's first 3 shots and scored 8 quick points over him in the first few minutes of the game. Then Steve Francis stole the show scoring 44 points, a career high. The Houston Rockets had given the Lakers trouble in their 3 previous head to head meetings. The Laker's last win took a 52 point double overtime effort from Kobe at home. The Houston Rockets were also fighting for the playoff spot with the Phoenix Suns. It was a huge game for both the teams and for the ratings.

It was a dogfight the whole night as the Houston Rockets made runs after runs in the 1st half. Although Kobe was rather quiet, Shaquille O'neal didn't back down from the matchup between him and the 7'6 center. Rather than settling for jumphooks like in the previous meeting, Shaq wasted no time asserting himself taking it right at Yao throwing down 6 dunks in the game on his way to 14 1st half points. Bryant also looked to be more aggressive in the 3rd quarter as he scored 14 points in the quarter alone. Even that wasn't enough to pull the Lakers away from the Rockets. Both teams were deadlocked throughout the 4th as each team traded baskets to each other. Bryant took a backseat to O'neal in the 4th when crunchtime had taken place as the Rockets led 82-79. With chanting lines of "DEFENSE" from the wild Rockets crowd, Shaq calmly threw down an earth clattering dunk over Kelvin Cato - twice on back to back possessions.

On another crucial possession, with the Lakers leading 92-91 with 20 seconds to go, Shaq went up and threw down what looked to be another obliterating dunk over Yao Ming. But fumbling the ball in midair, Shaq furiously got the ball back and this time retaliated with yet another catastrophic shattering dunk that proved to be the most decisive basket of the game. The basket annihiliated and silenced the Toyota Center as the Lakers went on to win 96-93. After the game, Shaq labelled himself as the M.D.E. since Hakeem, which stood for most dominant ever. Who could've questioned him especially after the 3 ferocious dunks late in the 4th?

Extra Tags: defense bill walton commentary

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Kobe
• Bryant
• Yao
• Ming
• Shaquille
• O'neal
• 40
• 50
• point
• streak
• dynamic
• duo
• dunk
• reverse
• championship
• playoffs
• bill
• walton

[kanguesso]

wow, kobe was alot more explosive back in '03 than he is today. kobe is still young and in his prime but he has definately slowed down in terms of explosiveness and athlecism. but then again, it's not how old you are really, it's how many miles you have on your body. And kobe has alot of miles on his body. people don't realise that he's been in the league longer than the average NBA career lasts. i mean the guy was drafted when he was 17. that was 13 years ago. wow. kobe is durable.

[4DaHorde3]

why do i feel like this is a lakers highlight?

[WeStSiDeBL00DZ1]

This shit is 3D mate!!!

[ttom1122]

Even as a Lakers fan i have always really like Stevie Franchise, however it's not 'till you watch these video's )where you only see the defensive side of the ball) that you notice that he put in zero effort on D. My teenage self hates me for posting this...

[asdfghjkl10531]

@4DaHorde3 Because that's what it is. Look at the channel.



[porpoise803]

姚明把背心脱了好了，肩膀都露出来了

[chosen252]

@porpoise803  hell no

[soulkobe]

sucks ming!!!



[bulls7123]

Ah, brings back memories!

[bulls7123]

@kanguesso Yes to everything you said.

[2010raquan]

shaq is cheese in 2k. he be hittin 10 ft jumpers. wtf?