The Rockets turned some heads when they rolled the Jazz Monday night, and an even bigger challenge came Wednesday as they took on a well-known former teammate and the defending champion Lakers... but despite pushing it to overtime, the Rockets didn't have enough juice on their final play as Kobe Bryant (41 points) and the Lakers escaped Houston with a 103-102 win. Despite LA's size advantage, the Rockets big men thrived as Carl Landry, Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes combined for 50 points and 35 boards, but the Rockets perimeter guys really struggled, especially Trevor Ariza (5-21 shooting).