Last night's Laker game was remarkable for a lot of reasons. For one, Kobe Bryant scored 41 points to carry the Lakers despite being under the weather since Tuesday. So, yeah: he played 48 minutes for the Lakers on the second night of back-to-back games, both of which he'd been sick for, and he scored 41 points. Kobe Bryant is f'ing incredible. It's nights like this--against a crappy Rockets team, in a meaningless game that nobody watches--that truly define greatness, and Kobe's been going strong for more than a decade. Very impressive.

BUT... The real story was Derek Fisher, who started at point guard for the Lakers and played 34 minutes, but failed to register any points, assists, or rebounds in that span. Pretty remarkable. Ordinarily, it's funny to look over the box score to see which 12th man entered the game, played less than a minute, and failed to register any stat. It's rare, but happens more often than you think. On the internet, this is called a "Mario."

But Fisher played THIRTY-FOUR MINUTES and didn't do anything. I mean, wow. THAT is an accomplishment. He was 0-5 shooting on the night, which obviously hurts, but Fisher made up for it elsewhere. On the game's decisive possession in overtime, Fisher stripped Houston's Trevor Ariza, securing the win for L.A., and making Fisher the most improbable, statistically invisible hero of all time.

It prompted Phil Jackson to say this post-game, "That's why he's out there. Fish is a scrappy player. He's going to put his mark on a game one way or the other." He put his mark on the game alright... Maybe even put his mark on history, as John Hollinger said, "He played remarkably well at the defensive end, drew three offensive fouls and two key steals. Best 0-0-0 game ever." And now I don't know whether all this has been sarcastic or not... Because damn, that does sound like a pretty solid game, right?

From our Houston Rockets blog, The Dream Shake, comes a simple question, and a distressing answer for Rockets fans:

You couldn’t ignore it. The Rockets countered with baskets, but you still weren’t convinced. And then, when it came down to the final 13 seconds of the game, you thought about it yet again.

Who is going to take the final shot?

With the final possession determining the outcome of the game, the Los Angeles Lakers weren’t about to let anyone score the easy way.

How about sending Aaron Brooks through the lane for a dwarf-tastic layup? Nope. Andrew Bynum wasn’t about give Brooks any space by stepping up late to help again.

Or how about giving Trevor Ariza space to isolate his defender? Nope. Ron Artest wasn’t going to give an inch of room for Ariza to beat him off the dribble.

In the end, the Rockets got caught in between both options, and it resulted in a turnover. When we finally got our answer to who was going to step up at the end, it was pretty clear: Nobody.

It’s a good point, and reminds me of a question I found myself asking back in September, talking about the Rockets:

…Everyone serves a purpose on that roster, and many of the players excel in doing the “little things” that help teams win. Carl Landry, Chuck Hayes, Trevor Ariza, Battier, Aaron Brooks, Brent Barry—they all do one thing or another very well, and in theory, the parts should add up to form a dominant, cohesive basketball team.

But that’s the thing: it’s still unclear if it’ll shake out that way. Can a bunch of guys that excel at the “little things” do the “big thing,” which is “win”?

And though I foolishly ignored the obvious point back in September, last night’s game proves it—a lot of guys can do the little things very well, but in the end, it’s very difficult to win close games without a star player that can create offense for himself down the stretch. When the game gets tense, and both teams bear down on defense, it helps to have a guy who can just put your team on his back. Tracy McGrady, should he ever get healthy again… He’d be a great candidate for that role. Yao Ming, too, although to a lesser extent, as it’s harder to depend on post players in the final minute.

Instead, the Rockets have Aaron Brooks and Trevor Ariza and Luis Scola—all good players, but not one of whom can ever single-handedly carry a team. They do plenty of things to help a team, but it’s just not in their DNA, and the same goes for the rest of the Rockets. For Houston, that’s a problem.

While Rockets’ blog The Dream Shake unleashes on the officials, Lakers’ blog Silver Screen And Roll needs a cigarette after this one.

For three quarters the Los Angeles Lakers dragged ass through the tail end of a road back-to-back, looking every bit as sluggish and heavy-legged as you’d expect. Having played overtime last night and with Pau Gasol still in business attire, a fourth-quarter fade to a frisky Houston Rockets team seemed likely. The Rockets looked fresher and springier and were repeatedly finding their way to loose balls. A Laker loss would have been frustrating, and yet understandable under the circumstances.

But after resting the first two minutes of the fourth quarter, during which the Rockets worked over the Laker reserves to build a seven-point lead, Kobe Bryant checked back into the game and dragged the Lakers into Playoff Mode. He scored 10 of the Lakers’ 19 points in the fourth period while being guarded by longtime foe Shane Battier. Kobe’s feed to Ron Artest for a three with 30 seconds appeared likely to cement the comeback, but Trevor Ariza, facing his former employer for the first time, answered with his own triple on the Rockets’ last possession to send the game to OT.

Yeah, it was that kinda game.

Houston, TX (Sports Network) - Kobe Bryant carried the Lakers on his back with 41 points and six rebounds, but it was Andrew Bynum's foul shots late in overtime that gave Los Angeles a 103-102 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Bynum, who hit 3-of-4 at the line inside 44.2 seconds left in OT, had 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, who have won three in a row.

Ron Artest poured in 15 points and grabbed six rebounds against his former team. Lamar Odom added 14 points and seven rebounds for Los Angeles, which beat Houston in seven games in the Western Conference semifinals last year.

Luis Scola tallied 16 points and 13 boards for the Rockets, who had a three- game winning streak snapped. Carl Landry had 20 points and eight boards off the bench.

Trevor Ariza ended with 15 points, nine rebounds, and five assists versus his former club while Aaron Brooks finished with 15 points and six helpers. Shane Battier and Charles Hayes each added 14 points. Hayes also had 14 rebounds.

With the score tied at 100 in overtime and the clock winding under a minute to play, Bryant missed a jumper from the corner. However, Bynum collected the rebound and was fouled on a layup attempt. He made both foul shots to put the Lakers in front by two with 44.2 seconds left.

After a Houston timeout, Landry made a hook shot at the other end to tie the game at 102 with 37.3 ticks to go. Bynum then made 1-of-2 foul shots to put LA ahead 103-102 with 24.7 seconds remaining.

After an Odom foul on the floor left the Rockets with 13 seconds, Ariza took the inbounds pass and was stripped by Derek Fisher, sealing the win for Los Angeles.

Houston scored the first six points of the fourth, as a Landry layup made it an 80-73 game with 10:16 remaining.

A Bryant turnaround jumper cut the deficit to 86-85 with 2:41 to go. Brooks then drilled a trey to put the Rockets ahead 89-85 with 1:33 left.

LA fought back with seven straight points to take the lead with 30 seconds left. Bryant got the flurry started with four free throws, tying the game at 89, and Artest sank a shot from beyond the arc following a Hayes turnover.

Landry took possession of a jump ball with 19.6 showing on the clock and found Ariza, who drilled a trey of his own to deadlock things at 92 with 14.2 ticks left.

The Rockets played great defense on Bryant during the last possession, which ended without the Lakers getting a shot off as the game moved to overtime.

Down 20-13, the Lakers closed out the first quarter with a 9-2 spurt to tie the contest at 22.

Los Angeles went on a 7-1 flurry shortly into the second to grab a six-point edge as Shannon Brown's reverse layup capped the run. The Rockets responded with eight straight points to re-take the lead and never trailed the rest of the half, holding a 48-44 edge at the break.

A tight third period resulted in the Rockets nursing a 74-73 lead entering the fourth.

The Rockets outrebounded the Lakers, 54-48...Houston shot 45.3 percent from the field, while Los Angeles made 41.9 percent of its shots...The Lakers went 4-0 against the Rockets in the regular season last year.

Via Sports Network