An old-fashioned blowout was in the cards today, as Houston outscored LA Lakers 93-64. Neither the win nor the final score came as a huge surprise to some observers, who consider LA Lakers one of the most pitiful teams in league history. "They ought to drop down a couple divisions," said one pundit. "Today's game was just one more bit of evidence that they can't compete at this level. Maybe if they got a new coach and a new roster they could, but until then it's going to be more games like this."

Andreas Helmle is hoping to turn things around a bit quicker. "We'll have to study the tapes tonight and figure out where they beat us. Some better preparation and we'll have no problems matching up against teams like this."

Houston was led by Howard (18 points, 22 boards, 0 assists, 5 blocks), Marchese (6 points, 11 boards, 1 assists, a steal, 2 blocks), Dyess (20 points, a steal). LA Lakers was led by Richardson (21 points, 9 boards, 0 assists, a block), Dixson (7 points, 6 assists, a steal), Cook (8 points, 5 boards, 0 assists, 2 blocks).

Houston have been victorious in the past 5 games and improve to 38-39 and 26-14 at home. They remain at #3 in the Southwest and stay at #9 overall in the Western Conference. With this defeat, LA Lakers drop to 35-42. They hold at #4 in the Pacific and move down to #11 overall in the Western Conference.

box score Houston roster LA Lakers* roster