ORLANDO, Fla. _ The fourth quarter belonged to LeBron James.
He opened with a driving, twisting dunk. He bullied his way into the paint. He found his teammates for an easy score. And when Russell Westbrook thought he had a good look, James smacked the ball so far out of bounds it nearly rolled into an exterior hallway.
It was a game with dramatic swings for the Los Angeles Lakers, but ultimately they held on to even their second-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets. The Lakers beat the Rockets, 117-109, behind 28 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists from LeBron James, while Anthony Davis asserted himself early and late to finish with 34 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
The Lakers benefited from a poor shooting night by Westbrook, who scored only 10 points and made four of 15 shots, with only one of the seven three-pointers he took falling.
Losing Game 1 jolted the Lakers awake for Game 2.
Things were rolling right along for the Lakers in the first half. Markieff Morris had become a can't-miss sharp-shooter, making four three-pointers in the first quarter for 12 points. Rajon Rondo was playing well. Davis imposed his aggressiveness on the Rockets, banging against P.J. Tucker, the 25-year-old role player given the task of guarding him.
They led by 16 points at the end of the first quarter, and built upon that in the second. With 10:39 left in the second quarter, Alex Caruso got the ball to James after a turnover by Westbrook. James' alley-oop dunk roused the Lakers' bench and forced the Rockets to take a timeout. During the break, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope met his teammates in the huddle and shouted: "Do not let up!"
At halftime, the Lakers led the Rockets, 67-51.
They had outscored Houston by 16 points in the paint, by 12 on fast breaks and their bench scored 21 points to the Rockets' 11.
Whatever happened at halftime changed the complexion of the game.
The Rockets opened the second half on a 14-0 run before the Lakers scored. They took their first lead of the game, 82-80, with 4:31 left in the third quarter.
But after the Rockets caught up, the Lakers pushed back to even the series.
