Bodog Beat

The Los Angeles Lakers hope for stronger performances from their stars as they go for their 10th victory in 11 games tonight in a matchup with the Houston Rockets, winners of three straight. (AP Images)

Kobe Bryant was 5-for-14 from the field and Pau Gasol went 4-for-15 on Sunday night, but the Lakers got big contributions from Andrew Bynum and Vladimir Radmanovic to hold off Miami 108-105.

Bryant will try to keep the Lakers on track against a Houston team that's won three in a row since dropping six of eight. The Rockets held one of the NBA's highest-scoring offensive teams to its lowest point total of the season in a 96-76 win over New York on Saturday night.

The Rockets will need a much stronger performance than they had in their first meeting. Los Angeles trailed by 12 after one quarter before outscoring Houston 95-54 in a 111-82 rout Nov. 9.