LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In the end, the Houston Rockets had too much to overcome.
They were missing All-Stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady as they faced the top-seeded team in the Western Conference on the road.
The Rockets couldn't compete as the fell to the Los Angeles Lakers, 89-70, in yesterday's Game 7 of the NBA Western Conference finals.
Houston misfired on its first 12 shots and fell behind by 25 points late in the first half to the defending Western Conference champions.
The Rockets have lost to the Lakers in each of their last six playoff series since Ralph Sampson's buzzer-beater knocked Los Angeles out of the Western Conference finals in 1986.
The Rockets had gotten used to playing without Tracy McGrady, who has been sidelined since February after undergoing microfracture surgery on his left knee.
The Rockets also won two games after losing Yao and had many Lakers fans wondering what was wrong with their team.
Lakers center Andrew Bynum says the loss of Yao forced the Rockets to go small with their lineup, and that trashed the Lakers game plan.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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