Mother's Day Massacre

The Lakers blew a golden opportunity to put away the Houston Rockets, as they were beat 99-87 in Game 4 of their best of seven series today. Not only did the Rockets beat the Lakers without Yao Ming, they made it look easy. Point guard Aaron Brooks led the way with 34 points, and Shane Battier added 23 for the Rockets, who are now 4-0 all time against the Lakers when playing without Yao. 

Houston started the game on a 22-7 run, and from there it was obvious the Lakers were both lethargic and taking the Rockets lightly. They played horrible defense and gave away turnovers, which led to easy points for Houston. The halftime score was 54-36, and at that point I figured the Lakers would make halftime adjustments and come out strong in the third quarter, but I was wrong. Houston outscored the Lakers 29-18 in the third quarter. Oh I forgot to mention Aaron Brooks alone scored 17 points in the quarter. Yes you read that clearly, AARON BROOKS had 1 point less than the entire Laker team in the third quarter. To make matters worse, Laker forward Lamar Odom left the game with back spasms in the middle of the third quarter. Then there is Kobe Bryant, who finished with 15 points on 7-of-17 shooting. In the first three games, Bryant averaged 35 points and took more than 25 shots in each game. 

It's as if the Lakers were surprised to see the Rockets play with heart after they lost Yao Ming for the year. The Rockets are down two centers, so why Pau Gasol or Andrew Bynum didn't get the ball down low every possession is a mystery. When the game was over in the fourth quarter, the Lakers finally went to Pau over and over, and what do you know, they won the quarter by 17 points. With Yao out, a faster pace favors Houston. The Lakers cannot get caught playing Houston's style of play. They need to slow it down, and hold Houston to perimeter shots, but CHALLENGE them.

The Lakers blew a golden chance to put Houston away. If they had won, they would have taken a 3-1 series lead going back to Los Angeles, and they would have sucked away any momentum from Houston. Now the Rockets believe they can win, and frankly the Lakers should be worried. They are not playing anywhere near the level they can, and considering that Cleveland and Denver are playing out their minds right now, I don't even know if you can guarantee the Lakers can win the Western Conference. I love Phil Jackson, but part of the blame of this pathetic performance today has to fall on his shoulders. The Lakers need to make adjustments, and they need to wake up and realize this Rockets team is for real and out for blood. The positive thing is that the Lakers split the two games in Houston, and now have home court advantage again. All they need to do is win on their home court and they will advance to the Western Conference Finals. Game 5 is Tuesday night at 7:30 in Los Angeles.