Because he was wearing his red jacket with the Rockets ?R' on the pocket, he thought he'd go all out, adding a large, matching red bow tie to maybe get a laugh in the locker room. Instead, he scored 34 points and ended up on the postgame interview podium.

"I got kind of tricked a little bit," Brooks said. "We all have these red jackets. One of the players (Chuck Hayes) wrote on the board it was mandatory to wear them. I figured if I had to wear a jacket like this, I was going to go all out and make it look real ridiculous.

"I don't normally dress like this, but after a game like that, I just might. I was surprised when I came in and I saw all the cameras."

Hayes delivers

With center Yao Ming out, Rockets coach Rick Adelman gave Chuck Hayes just his second start of the season and got just what he wanted from him.

"We had complete confidence in Chuck," Adelman said. "You see that time after time that he's able to defend people one on one. They don't back him down. He did a nice job on (Pau) Gasol. He got offensive rebounds for us."

Gasol was the Lakers' leading scorer with 30 points, but had just 12 through three quarters as the Rockets built a 29-point lead. Hayes got three of his nine rebounds on the offensive end and added four steals and a blocked shot.

Support for Yao

Though the Rockets were stunned by Yao Ming's season-ending foot injury, they said there is a bright side in that it will not be a difficult injury to overcome.

"He's got a long career ahead of him," Ron Artest said. "It's great that he's going to get healthy and get ready for next year. He's got a lot more wins to get. He helped us get this far."

Better to give ?

For the first time in the series, the Rockets had more assists (18) than turnovers (11).

"We had only four at halftime," said Rockets coach Rick Adelman. "That was a huge difference in the game. If you take care of the ball, they don't get in the open court. They're playing in the half-court all the time."

Foul coming

After watching the Dallas Mavericks unsuccessfully try to foul Denver's Carmelo Anthony before he hit a 3-pointer to win Saturday's playoff game, Lakers coach Phil Jackson took notice.

Jackson and his coaches decided early Sunday they would inform officials if they're going to foul players.

"But there's many times at the end of the game where we're trying to put pressure on and trap and all that stuff and guys come up to do that and they call a foul," Jackson said. "I like to trap and play defense and steal the ball, so there's always that little margin. We have to be much more explicit how to do it and how to inform referees."

Odom hobbled

Lakers forward Lamar Odom was moving gingerly following Sunday's game after taking a hard fall on his back in the fourth quarter.

He will undergo tests today and won't participate in the Lakers' shootaround.

"It won't be smart to practice," he said. "I'll get treatment all day and hopefully I can play."

Bynum disappoints

Lakers coach Phil Jackson hinted center Andrew Bynum could see diminished playing time. He played only 12 minutes in Game 4 and didn't score.

"It looks like it takes him some time to get himself involved in the ballgame now," Jackson said. "His hands weren't good when he comes in, but I wanted to start him earlier in the second half just to use his size to stop or block the drives and get some rebounds. We went to him early in the second half to try to get him involved and have an influence in the ballgame. Never happened."

Rockets 99, Lakers 87

Series tied 2-2

Gm. Result Top scorer Top rebounder

1 Rockets 100, Lakers 92 Bryant 32 Gasol 13

2 Lakers 111, Rockets 98 Bryant 40 Gasol 14

3 Lakers 108, Rockets 94 Bryant 33 Yao 14

? 4 Rockets 99, Lakers 87 Brooks 34Scola 14

Gm. When/where TV Radio

5 9:30 Tue., Los Angeles TNT 610 AM, 850 AM (Span.)

68:30 Thu., Toyota Ctr. ESPN 610 AM, 850 AM (Span.)

7* TBA Sun., Los Angeles TBA 610 AM, 850 AM (Span.)

* - if necessary