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Rockets' Yao Ming - Source: Reuters -
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The Houston Rockets stunned the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers 100-92 on Tuesday to get their Western Conference semi-final series off to a surprising start.
Yao Ming scored 28 points and had 10 rebounds to help the fifth-seeded Rockets notch a rare win at the Staples Center.
Houston survived a 32-point effort by Kobe Bryant to defeat the Lakers for the first time this season to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
"We are not going to run with these guys, they are so good offensively that we had to muck it up," the Rockets' Shane Battier told reporters. "And we did a great job just controlling tempo."
Yao briefly left the game in the fourth quarter after hurting his right knee but returned.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson found much to dislike about his team's performance.
"I don't know if we can play much worse, to be honest with you," Jackson said.
The Rockets grabbed an early advantage before fending off the Lakers for the remainder of the contest.
Los Angeles lost just five home games during the regular season and looked set to record another win when they took a 77-76 lead with eight minutes to play, but the Rockets responded with nine consecutive points to secure the victory.
Ron Artest contributed 21 points and Aaron Brooks had 19 for the Rockets, who had lost all four regular-season games to the Lakers. Pau Gasol followed Bryant with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
Game Two is in Los Angeles on Thursday.
