NBA: LA Lakers 111, Houston 98

LOS ANGELES, May 7 (UPI) -- Kobe Bryant rescued Los Angeles with 40 points Wednesday, pushing the Lakers to an emotional 111-98 win over Houston that tied their playoff series 1-1.

After suffering an unexpected setback in the series opener and then seeing Houston rally to a halftime tie on Wednesday, the Lakers faced a critical closing 24 minutes.

Los Angeles was able to out-battle the Rockets in a physical second half, but the Lakers could not breathe easy until Bryant scored on a tip-in with 4 minutes to play for a 104-90 advantage.

With Houston having demonstrated the ability to challenge the Lakers, the Rockets will host the third game of the series on Friday.

Bryant made 16-of-26 shots from the field and Pau Gasol chipped in 22 points and 13 rebounds.

Los Angeles scored 39 points in the opening period and had a 14-point lead, but Houston fought back for a 57-57 tie at intermission.

Ron Artest led the Rockets with 25 points and was in the middle of an altercation near the end of the third quarter that could impact the rest of the series.

Five technical fouls were handed out in a series of incidents that escalated after the Lakers' Derek Fisher threw an elbow into Luis Scola. Both Fisher and Artest were kicked out of the game.