The Lakers made the score look respectable only in the final quarter, with a late scoring burst by Pau Gasol (30 points).

“Was I angry at the team? Of course, you’re angry with the team,” Coach Phil Jackson said. “They weren’t ready right off the bat, they didn’t anticipate the energy that they were going to come with.”

Kobe Bryant scored just 15 points, going 7 for 17 from the field. The Lakers’ lineup was generally listless until Gasol’s late outburst. Derek Fisher, who returned from a one-game suspension for his flagrant foul on Luis Scola in Game 2, never got going.

The Lakers also finished the afternoon with a hole in the lineup. Lamar Odom crashed hard to the floor on a third-quarter layup attempt and left the game because of back spasms. His status for Game 5 is unclear.

Brooks, who has been the starting point guard only since late February, was the best player on the court. He went 12 for 20 from the field, including four 3-pointers, and had 17 points in the third quarter, when the Rockets slammed the door shut.

A rising star, Brooks reported to the postgame news conference wearing a bright red sport coat and a matching bowtie on a white shirt. He looked like a lost member of a local barber-shop quartet.

“I got kind of tricked a little bit,” Brooks said. “We all got these red jackets and they told us that it was mandatory to wear them. So I figure if I had to wear a jacket like this, then I was going to go all out and look real ridiculous.

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