Even without their star player Yao Ming the Houston Rockets managed to beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday 99-87.

“I think everyone but us got the memo that we weren’t supposed to show up today without Yao,” Rockets forward Shane Battier said after the game.

Aaron Brooks had a career high performance with 34 points while Battier added an additional 23. Luis Scola also stepped up huge for the Rockets with 14 rebounds.

“I’m not surprised,” said Battier. “It almost sounds cliche, but we’re a resilent group. We talk about bouncing back. Through adversity, through lineup changes, through trades, through injuries, we’ve never quit and we’ve never stopped believing.”

Game 5 will take place on Tuesday night in Los Angeles and I’m sure the Lakers won’t underestimate the Ming-less Rockets again..