Original Airdate: Wednesday, May 6, 2009. This is a part of the 93-Second Sports Shot series. 93-Second Sports Shots air weekday nights at 6pm.

---

Tonight, the Lakers will look to rebound after a Game 1 loss to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Lakers lost at home on Monday night 100-92. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant scored 32 points on 14/31 shooting from the field, while Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom added 14 and 9 points, respectively. Rockets swingman Ron Artest was aggressive going to the basket and scored 28 points on 17 field goal attempts. Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks added 21 and 19 in the winning effort. Tonight's game is essentially a must-win for the Lakers, who do not want to go to Houston for games 3 and 4 down 2-0.

What do the Lakers need to do to even this series up? First, the Lakers need to get more balanced scoring. Kobe Bryant is being closely guarded by Shane Battier and Ron Artest, and would like to defer to some of his other scoring options. In Game 1, Gasol scored only 14 points on 14 shot attempts, while Odom only attempted 8 shots and scored in the single-digits.

Additionally, the Lakers need to get better production from their 3 point shooters. The Lakers' two best 3 point specialists, Sasha Vujacic and Derek Fisher, combined for 0-6 from beyond the arc. If they continue to miss shots, it will give the Rockets an opportunity to stuff the lane and force Kobe into jump shots.

The Lakers need to attack the basket more aggressively. Though they were the home team, the Lakers shot 10 fewer free throws than the Rockets in Game 1. By attacking the basket, the Lakers can possibly get Yao into foul trouble.

Finally, the Lakers need to improve their defensive play. The Rockets shot 48% from the field in Game 1. If the Lakers want to win this game, they will have to force the Rockets into more contested looks.

~Rewarding Poor Play (Tue 8/31)
~No Surprise Here for Stephen Strasburg (Mon 8/30) 2 Comments
~Auburn All Star (Mon 8/16)
~World Cup - Lego Reenactment (Sun 8/15)
~Walters Injured (Mon 8/9)
~Amazing Catch (Thu 8/5)
~A-Rod* (Wed 8/4) 1 Comment
~The Quarterback who Cried Wolf (Tue 8/3)
~New York Jets Training Camp: Day 1 (Mon 8/2)
~New York Jets Training Camp Questions and Storylines (Mon 8/2)
~Greatest Baseball Injuries (Fri 7/30)
~Is the Evil Empire not that Evil? (Tue 7/27) 1 Comment
~Another No-Hitter (Mon 7/26)
~New York Jets Training Camp Questions (Thu 7/22)
~Ithacan Wins 25K Swimming World Championship (Thu 7/22)
~Do Sports Tell Us Who's Best? (Wed 7/21) 1 Comment
~Worst Sports Injury? (Wed 7/21)
~Last Thought on Lebron-Wade-Bosh (Tue 7/20) 2 Comments
~Riley Nash signs pro contract, leaves Cornell (Mon 7/19)
~Cornell Hockey adds six new players (Thu 7/15)