The Rockets played tenacious, physical defense and show that the Lakers are very vulnerable. The Lakers are far more experied but also vastly more injured. Continue the tough defense and Malone, Payton and/or even Shaq will crack. They are all playing with great heart but weakened bodies. Do not give the Lakers more credit than they are due. Look at the other games - lower seeds lost by 10+, even 20+ points. Miami-NO is the only other close game. As I post this, T-wolfs are leading Nuggets by 22. The second seed is supposed to dominate the 7th seed and yet Lakers barely escaped! Rockets can take at least 3 games from Lakers. Even winning the series is not impossible. Play them tough, wear out one or more aging bodies and they will fade. Even if Lakers survive this series, they will be minced meat for the Spurs. At the very least, Yao, Francis and company will gain valuable play-off experience and help ensure that Lakers makes a second round exit. Sit back and enjoy the series!
Exactly my thoughts, however, dude, you gotta keep those to yourself, don't make the sports gods angry. The player I fear most is Kobe, he's such a freak. Shaq was eating Yao alive in the first half, however, I could see he was working extra hard. A 32-year old Shaq cannot keep this pace for entire series, and he slowed down visibly in the second half. Mailman was definetely not himself. One thing about Malone is that, unlike Barkley, he's not used to playing with injuries. It's not clear how long it would take him to adjust, but I would be surprised if he is a lot better on Monday. Gary looked really bad after he tweaked his back, I don't know how serious it is, but he definetely looked like a shadow of himself. The keys are Malone and Kobe. If Malone is not ready to go, Medvedenko is a big drop-off. He has had troubles getting his shot off against Yao or Cato. Cat really bothered Kobe, he might not hold him to 4-for 19 every game, but if he can keep him from going on one of these ridiculous 45-55 point games when everything he throws goes in, we have a chance...
I had a similar feeling watching the game. We not be able to beat them in the end, but there is no way the Lakers team we just saw can beat the Spurs in Round 2. Hopefully, we'll at least have them nice and tired if we don't send them packing.
I agree that the Lakers are ready to fade...we just need to give 'em a little push. We now know that Rocketball is good enough. It just has to be done closer to 95%
If anyone, and I mean ANYONE, in a red & white uni would please drive the @#$%&&! lane, we could beat these asshats!
I really got a feeling that we will advanced to second round!!I really think so! Rockets will put the Lakers out in 6 Games
