Kobe Bryant Leads the Lakers Past Houston (VIDEO)

With Dwight Howard chillin’ on the bench Wednesday night to a knee injury, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers won consecutive games for the first time this season.

Bryant led the way with 29 points and 7 assists, and the Lakers once again got a balanced effort in the 98-92 road victory against the Houston Rockets.

Per the LA Times:

Quite a few players contributed on a night where Bryant had 29 points on 10-for-28 shooting at Toyota Center. Jordan Hill and Nick Young each had 16 points. Carlos Boozer had 12 points and 13 rebounds.

 

Bryant had an efficient first half but went two for 11 in the third quarter and two of six in the fourth. Not that he cared. […] “I mean, we had a bad start. Are we a 3-9 team? No,” Bryant said. “We’re a much better team than that. We’ll pick it up.”

 

The Rockets (9-3) need to pick up their pace after an odd week in which they won a game by scoring 69 points, got drubbed by Memphis and now fell to the Lakers at home. […] They can try using the Howard excuse. He was a late scratch, surprising almost everybody by sitting out with a sore right knee, an announcement coming within minutes of tipoff.