Despite being down by 21 points in the first half, Kobe Bryant, still recovering from an ankle injury, was still confident that he and the Lakers were going to pull off a victory against the Houston Rockets.

“I felt like the game was ours, as funny as that sounds,” Said Bryant after the Lakers 112-101 victory. “When I have that type of sensation, you kind of fall into a trap, kind of sit back a little too much because you feel like you’re never out of it.”

That sensation Kobe was talking about helped him rack up 53 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists in 54 minutes. He also had a pretty impressive 180 dunk on Yao Ming — who had 8 blocks — during the second OT.

“I don’t know about if he imposed his will,” Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy said about Bryant. “He imposed his skill, I know that.”

If this game wasn’t enough to give Laker fans a heart attack, LA followed up this game with a 147-141 overtime loss to the Washington Wizards. Kobe had 45 points and 10 assists but lost the shootout (no pun intended) to Gilbert Arenas, who had 60 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.

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