by By JONATHAN FEIGEN, houston chronicle , The Houston Chronicle

Ron Artest

Points: 15. Field goals: 6-14. Rebounds: 6. Assists: 1.

Trevor Ariza

Points: 15. Field goals: 5-21. Rebounds: 9. Assists: 5.

Rockets update

Wednesday: Laker 103, Rockets 102 (OT)

Record: 3-2.

Friday: Oklahoma City Thunder at Toyota Center, 7:30 p.m.

TV/radio: FSH; 610 AM and 850 AM (Spanish).

EXTRAS: Video and photos from the Rockets' loss to the Lakers. chron.com/sports

Four months, four quarters and all but four seconds of overtime had passed since Trevor Ariza had learned he was not invited to return to his hometown team when he turned toward the lane and the heart of the Los Angeles Lakers' defense.

The Rockets had taken their first meeting with the Lakers since last season's Game 7 - and since Ariza and Ron Artest traded themselves for each other - to overtime. The Lakers owned a one-point lead. Ariza, who had insisted he wanted only a win, had the ball and his chance.

Ariza never got there. As he tried to split Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, Ariza had the ball slapped loose by Fisher and time ran out on a 103-102 Rockets loss to the Lakers on Wednesday night. In so doing, Ariza ran out of time to make the sort of play he came to Houston to make.

"I looked up on the clock and I saw that there was four seconds left," he said. "I tried to get a good look. The ball got stripped. It was frustrating, definitely. I wanted to win. Everybody here wanted to win, and we didn't."

The Rockets , however, had plenty to lament well before Ariza's last-second turnover, from the fourth quarter when they led by four points heading into the last 1:33 to the overtime when they made just four of 12 shots and repeatedly sent the Lakers to the line.

"I thought we had a great chance of winning," Rockets coach Rick Adelman said. "I thought we should have won, but things happen."

For most of the night, relatively little happened with Ariza and Ron Artest, other than an early exchange between them.

"He tried to put his hands on my neck," Ariza said. "Nobody is going to try to put their hands on my neck or punk me. That ain't happening. But I don't have any hard feelings. It was just emotions, you might say. It doesn't matter."

Artest did not argue, but he said Ariza initiated their exchange.

"I wanted to (grab Ariza's throat) because he hit me with an elbow, but I didn't," Artest said. "It was a thought, you know, but then I thought about David Stern, and said ?OK, I'm not going to do this.' But I was a little upset.

"It's not his fault that I wanted to put my hands on him. It's the referees; they have to see that. He can't do that. Because you know if somebody hits me, I'm going to react, and I got hit with plenty of elbows today. Like three, four elbows, and it's just not fair.

"I don't want to fight."

Their exchange of last-minute 3s was far more stunning and relevant.

The Rockets had led 89-85 with 1:33 remaining in regulation after Aaron Brooks' 3-pointer, but Bryant twice went to the line, knocking down all four free throws to tie the game. Chuck Hayes grabbed the rebound of a Luis Scola miss, but Shane Battier could not hang on to Hayes' pass. Moments later, when Scola went to double Bryant, Artest was left open for a 3-pointer to give the Lakers a 92-89 lead with 30 seconds left.

Hayes earns his keep

Ariza, however, had an answer. He won a jump ball and then nailed his 3 with 14.2 seconds left to tie the game. The Lakers went to Bryant, who finished with 41 points, but Hayes switched on a screen and smacked the ball free with seven-tenths of a second remaining. When the Lakers tried to inbound to Andrew Bynum, Hayes slapped that away, too.

"Chuck being Chuck," Battier said. "If you want a treat, watch Chuck Hayes for a game. He is fantastic at what he does."

In overtime, the Rockets had a few minutes of Hayes being Bryant. After a Bryant free throw earned the Lakers a one-point lead, Hayes finished a drive. After a Bryant jumper, Hayes scored again, giving him 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go with 14 rebounds. On the next possession, however, Bryant hit another jumper, and Scola was called for his sixth foul.

"I want to see it on TV," Scola said. "I think I didn't touch him. It was great offense, but I didn't think it was a foul at all. Well, it wasn't a foul. But hey, ref only played a part of the game. We didn't lose because of the ref."

The Rockets did tie the game two more times. Brooks scored on a drive, and after Bynum sank two free throws with 44.2 seconds left, Carl Landry, who came in for Scola, posted up Lamar Odom and tied the game, giving him a team-high 20 points.

The Rockets , however, fouled Bynum again as he ran a pick-and-roll with Bryant. Bynum hit his second free throw with 24.7 seconds left, giving the Lakers a one-point lead. They had left Ariza and the Rockets with one last possession for the win, and a statement.

?We let them off the hook'

They never got a shot off.

"Whenever you have a team like that - a great team, a great team that played its butt off - on the ropes, you have to finish it, have to take advantage of the situation," Brooks said. "We let them off the hook."

jonathan.feigen@chron.com

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