Loss leaves Rockets with conflicted emotions

Conflicted feelings pervaded the Rockets’ locker room after their 89-70 loss to the Lakers in Game 7 that ended Houston’s adversity-laced run.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have advanced,” said dejected Rockets guard Ron Artest, who scored only seven points on three-for-10 shooting. “There’s no reason why I shouldn’t have done better.”

Walk a few steps away from Artest’s locker, and forward Shane Battier will share why the Rockets should feel good about themselves.

“We pushed the Lakers to Game 7 short-handed,” said Battier, who also struggled with only three points on one-of-six shooting. “I have nothing but pride for these guys.”

Perhaps Coach Rick Adelman illustrated the back-and-forth emotions perfectly. Adelman opened his news conference saying, “I’m disappointed with the way we started the game” in lieu of the Lakers’ storming to an 8-0 lead by the 9:47 mark of the first quarter that prompted a Houston timeout.

Before lamenting about the Lakers’ size advantage that gave them a 55-33 rebounding edge and 35 combined points from Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, Adelman quickly shifted his mind-set when asked to place the Rockets’ effort in context of their whole season.

“I’m really proud of our team,” he said. “The way they responded . . .”

Despite Tracy McGrady’s season-ending knee injury in February and Dikembe Mutombo’s knee injury in the first round of the playoffs, the Rockets got past the Portland Trail Blazers in six games. Houston hadn’t advanced past the opening round in 12 years.

Despite being seen as a second-round punching bag for the Lakers, the Rockets punched back even if it resulted in a few Artest ejections.

Despite losing center Yao Ming to a season-ending hairline fracture in his left foot in Game 3, the Rockets hung with the Lakers through seven games when some thought they wouldn’t last more than four.

“Most young guys would get swept,” Artest said. “Most young guys wouldn’t make it to Game 6 or 5. These young fellas have been to a Game 7.”

But in Game 7, a motivated Lakers team exposed an undermanned and exhausted Rockets team.

The Rockets missed their first 12 field goal attempts en route to a 36.8% shooting performance. Houston didn’t score until Aaron Brooks’ free throws with 6:53 left in the first quarter. They didn’t make their first field goal until a layup from center Chuck Hayes at the 4:44 mark.

Brooks led Houston with 13 points, but he scored eight of them in the third quarter when the game was already out of reach. The Lakers led 51-31 at halftime.

“It was like we were surprised that they were going to come out with more aggression,” Adelman said. “We threw it right in their hands.”

As a result, Houston will return home with unfinished business. But that doesn’t mean the Rockets weren’t proud of the business they did finish.

“It would’ve been better if we played better today and had a better showing,” Battier said. “But I think we were running out of fumes there at the end. We just didn’t have the effort.”

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mark.medina@latimes.com