The playoffs arrived, the Lakers were threatened and Shaquille O'Neal bailed them out.
O'Neal's only basket of the second half, a dunk off an airball by Kobe Bryant with 17.4 seconds remaining, provided the winning points in the Los Angeles Lakers' 72-71 victory Saturday over the Houston Rockets.
The Lakers shot 25 percent in the second half (10-of-40) and 32.9 percent overall, and were outrebounded 51-41. Still, they emerged with the victory when Jim Jackson missed an open 3-pointer from the left corner just before time expired.
PHOTO: AP
With the Rockets leading by one point and the shot clock running down, Bryant tried a 3-pointer despite having two defenders on him and missed everything. But O'Neal snatched the ball out of the air and rammed it into the basket while being fouled by Yao Ming, who committed his sixth personal.
O'Neal missed the free throw -- his 10th failure in 14 attempts from the foul line -- and the Rockets got the rebound and called timeout. Steve Francis drove around two defenders but ran into O'Neal, forcing him to pass the ball to Jackson in the corner. The shot hit the rim and bounced away as time ran out.
O'Neal scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half and had 17 rebounds. Bryant took just one shot in the first half and finished with 16 points, five rebounds and six assists, shooting 4-for-19 from the field.
PHOTO: AP
Francis led the Rockets with 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Jackson and Maurice Taylor added 11 points each; Yao had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Cuttino Mobley also scored 10.
Game 2 will be played Monday night at Staples Center before the best-of-seven first-round series moves to Houston for the third and fourth games.
Derek Fisher and Kareem Rush made 3-pointers -- the first points of the game for both -- to give the Lakers a 58-55 lead, and Rush made another 3-pointer to make it 63-59.
PHOTO: AP
Jackson scored the game's next five points to put the Rockets on top, but two free throws by Fisher and another pair by Bryant gave the Lakers a 67-64 lead.
A free throw by Francis and a jumper by Taylor tied it at 69, and after O'Neal missed two foul shots, Francis made a pair with 2:02 left to give the Rockets a two-point lead.
O'Neal's free throw with 1:30 left drew the Lakers within one, and there was no more scoring until his decisive dunk.
The Lakers, seeded second in the Western Conference, are shooting for their fourth title in five years. The Rockets, seeded seventh, are in the playoffs for the first time since 1999, when they were eliminated by the Lakers in the first round.
Pacers 104, Celtics 88
Jermaine O'Neal had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Ron Artest added 24 points and stellar defense on Paul Pierce to lead the Indiana Pacers over the Boston Celtics 104-88 in Game 1 of their series.
Last year, Pierce scored 21 of his 40 points in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the opening-round series, allowing the Celtics to overcome a 16-point deficit to get the win on their way to eliminating Indiana in six games.
Not this time. Pierce scored 11 points in the first quarter, but Artest didn't let him get free for the rest of the game.
One of the favorites for defensive player of the year, Artest held Pierce to 1-for-10 shooting in the final three periods as the Pacers opened up a huge lead.
Pierce went 8-for-10 from the free throw line and finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Without Pierce, the Celtics were no match for the deep and talented Pacers.
Nets 107, Knicks 83
In East Rutherford, New Jersey, Jason Kidd scored 14 points and had 13 assists, and Jason Collins knocked Tim Thomas out of the game on a flagrant foul in the fourth quarter of New Jersey's victory over New York in Game 1 of their first-round series.
Kerry Kittles hit his first six shots and scored 20 points as the two-time defending Eastern Conference champions shot nearly 60 percent in the first half and used their defense to put the game away in the second half, holding New York to 28 points.
Richard Jefferson added 21 points and Kenyon Martin had 16 for the Nets, who outscored New York 28-4 on the fast break -- including 14-2 in the first quarter.
Stephon Marbury scored just 13 points for the Knicks, who are making their first playoff appearance since 2001. Penny Hardaway led the Knicks with 18 and Nazr Mohammed had 16.
Spurs 98, Grizzlies 74
In San Antonio, Tim Duncan got 26 points as San Antonio gave Memphis a harsh initiation to postseason play.
The Spurs used their size advantage to produce easy inside baskets from Duncan and Robert Horry, while their relentless defense made Pau Gasol a non-factor while holding Memphis to its worst shooting percentage of the season.
Eighteen of San Antonio's first 25 points came in the paint, and they ended with 50 points inside.
The win was the 12th straight for the Spurs and their 14th straight at home, coming against a team that beat them three times during the regular season.
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