Lakers 93, Rockets 81

The gift basket arrived early Friday afternoon, even as the Lakers were still finding their way back to their home locker room inside Staples Center.

Two weeks on the road, zig-zaging through dusty Midwestern cities with stopovers in Charlotte, New Jersey and Atlanta mixed in for kicks, had left them weary, worn and wondering whether pushing so hard for the best record in the NBA all season had been worth it when the Cleveland Cavaliers snuck up and nosed by them in the standings.

But just as they were making their way into the arena for Friday's 93-81win over the Houston Rockets, the welcome-home basket, stuffed with a new set of carrots, was being broadcast on the big screen television inside their locker room.

The Cavaliers were getting dismantled by Orlando, on their way to a second straight loss, which meant the race for the best record, and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, was still very much alive.

Out on the court, another happy surprise was waiting for them. Andrew Bynum, their young center whose rehabilitation from a late January knee injury had been quietly progressing until he made headlines by being photographed giving piggyback rides at the Playboy mansion, was on the court going through pregame warm-ups.

Bynum wore a brace on his left knee, but seemed comfortable and uninhibited in his movements. He ran off the court soaked in sweat.

Despite the encouraging signs before the game, it took a while for the Lakers to get their legs under them.

``The end of the season is the fatigue time for teams,'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. ``Players' legs are weary, they've worked real hard, they let up, an injury might happen and fatigue the bench players. So, you have to play them out.

``It's not easy to come back from a road trip and have the energy you want to have, and Houston is no slouch.''

After jumping out to a 10-2 lead, the Lakers fell flat, shooting just 39.5 percent in the first half.

Houston rallied to a 44-44 tie at halftime behind 11 points each from Ron Artest, Yao Ming and Luis Scola.

Though the Lakers had dominated the season series with the Rockets, only one of the previous three victories had come easily. The last time out, the Lakers had to rally from an 11-point second-half deficit to beat Houston on March 11.

In the second half, they made sure that didn't happen. Midway though the third quarter the Lakers went on an 11-2 run capped by Derek Fisher's 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 31 seconds to go to stretch their lead to 65-55.

The Friday night crowd, which had been a bit subdued earlier in the night, exploded.

Pau Gasol scored 17 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. Fisher finished with 15 points and five steals. Kobe Bryant added 20 points and seven assists.

Along the baseline sat most of the familiar faces --Jack Nicolson, Dyan Cannon, Penny Marshall -- and a few different ones too. Former governor Gray Davis ... former 90210 actress Tori Spelling ... teen star Zac Efron...

All of which meant the Lakers really had been away for a while, and, that it was getting close to that time of year when all sorts of famous faces started making appearances at the Staples Center.

After Friday's win, their 60th of the season, the Lakers have six more game remaining. They trail the Cavs (61-15) by a single game in the standings, but are just two games up on Boston (58-19) for the second-best record.

Their next game is Sunday against the Clippers, who will likely be missing Marcus Camby (ankle), Al Thornton (foot) and Mardy Collins (plantar fasciitis).