March 26th, 2003
Compaq Center
Houston, TX

Boxscore: http://www.basketball-reference.com/b...

Statline: 31 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 10-22 FG, 11-12 FT

It was not just Kobe Bryant's best individual season of his career, but also one of the greatest in NBA history. The Los Angeles Lakers, defending champions that struggled early on in the season, were getting their rhythm back. But of course, in their next game, the center of attention was Shaquille O'neal vs Yao Ming: Part 2. In the previous meeting, Yao Ming blocked Shaq's first 3 shots and scored 8 quick points over him in the first few minutes of the game. Then Steve Francis stole the show scoring 44 points, a career high. The Houston Rockets had given the Lakers trouble in their 3 previous head to head meetings. The Laker's last win took a 52 point double overtime effort from Kobe at home. The Houston Rockets were also fighting for the playoff spot with the Phoenix Suns. It was a huge game for both the teams and for the ratings.

It was a dogfight the whole night as the Houston Rockets made runs after runs in the 1st half. Although Kobe was rather quiet, Shaquille O'neal didn't back down from the matchup between him and the 7'6 center. Rather than settling for jumphooks like in the previous meeting, Shaq wasted no time asserting himself taking it right at Yao throwing down 6 dunks in the game on his way to 14 1st half points. Bryant also looked to be more aggressive in the 3rd quarter as he scored 14 points in the quarter alone. Even that wasn't enough to pull the Lakers away from the Rockets. Both teams were deadlocked throughout the 4th as each team traded baskets to each other. Bryant took a backseat to O'neal in the 4th when crunchtime had taken place as the Rockets led 82-79. With chanting lines of "DEFENSE" from the wild Rockets crowd, Shaq calmly threw down an earth clattering dunk over Kelvin Cato - twice on back to back possessions.

On another crucial possession, with the Lakers leading 92-91 with 20 seconds to go, Shaq went up and threw down what looked to be another obliterating dunk over Yao Ming. But fumbling the ball in midair, Shaq furiously got the ball back and this time retaliated with yet another catastrophic shattering dunk that proved to be the most decisive basket of the game. The basket annihiliated and silenced the Toyota Center as the Lakers went on to win 96-93. After the game, Shaq labelled himself as the M.D.E. since Hakeem, which stood for most dominant ever. Who could've questioned him especially after the 3 ferocious dunks late in the 4th?

Extra Tags: defense bill walton commentary