Lakers stunned by Rockets' red glare

Houston's Shane Battier, left, and Yao Ming, third from left, and the rest of the Rockets showed they were not intimidated by the Lakers' Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.

[joe guy]

This is where we needed Luke Walton to shut down Yao

[taxpayer]

Use the force Luke!

[kat]

so disappointing they better pick it up.

[LAPDRN]

Lakers will win the series

[Toasty]

Houston is not a great team......apparently, neither are the Lakers. Also, Laker fans, make some noise during the game. Staples is a sports arena, not a library.

[Him]

Don't worry, it's all part of David Stern's plan to stoke interest and ratings in this series. Even Phil knew this was coming, and that's why the Lakers are not concerned. Look at the foul discrepancy. The refs walked to the back office after the game and picked up their bonus checks for giving the game to the Rockets.

[Brad]

Gimme a break!! You sound just like a Trailblazer fan. You think the only way your team can lose is if the refs hand it to the other team. In real life, it's actually possible for the Lakers to get beat by another team, you know? It does happen. And believe it or not, most people in the rest of the country think Kobe is the one getting special treatment by the refs. Point of view is everything.

Him wrote:

Don't worry, it's all part of David Stern's plan to stoke interest and ratings in this series. Even Phil knew this was coming, and that's why the Lakers are not concerned. Look at the foul discrepancy. The refs walked to the back office after the game and picked up their bonus checks for giving the game to the Rockets.

[YOUR DAD]

The scary part about the game is the lakers played horrible, probably the worst game of the year and still only lost by a couple of baskets

[SoCalMike]

The way I saw it, Houston played tougher, more aggressive on the inside and made Kobe take difficult shots. I'm starting to wonder whether Phil will ever play Andrew Bynum in crucial minutes again and whether he's permanently inserted Shannon Brown in Jordan Farmar's Spot. Farmar hit a big three at the end of the first and I thought he would get more PT bc he appears to be a better match up against the smaller, quicker Brooks. Lamar has got to come to play if we are going to win this series. He looked flat, slow and lazy.

And Derek, hate to point this out, is getting old. He can barely stay with his man and often looks like he's playing "matador" defense.

Come on guys. This is the playoffs and we're giving away our home court advantage. Must win the next one or we're in deep, you know what.

[Bxcx]

Rockets in 6! My prediction. I really hope Laker fans didn't assume that the title would be handed to them. What a disappointment that will be when they get bounced this series.

[YOUR DAD]

Bxcx wrote:

Rockets in 6! My prediction. I really hope Laker fans didn't assume that the title would be handed to them. What a disappointment that will be when they get bounced this series.

IF that's all the rockets got then there's no way they will win the series.I predicted lakers in 5 and I am still holding to that.GO LAKES

[ernie]

The lakers didn't play a bad game.. It just looked that way cause the rockets shut them down on defense. Defense wins games !!!!

[Americancitizen]

YAOzer! if that's all Houston's got? lol.

oh, no we got more. Ya think?

Lakers in 5?...wha?

lakers fans, swollow hard, cause you got spoon fed!

Gasol.......soft as cloth. Bynum...Mr Bust Inc.

Derek Fisher? I will not disrespect the old man!

welcome to the REAL playoffs folks!

[ernie]

This is what is going to happen in game two... Yao will get in foul trouble , kobe will cry cause he does not get his way. So in return the refs will call fouls against the rockets to switch the tempo of the game in favor of the lakers!!! Oh and i say yao will get in foul trouble because they will call touch fouls and basically bad fouls on yao.......... everyone wants to see lj vs kobe anyways, so stern will make that happen .!!! more money , cause at the end isn'T always about money ??? cant lie though kobe and lj are the best right now!!!

[Brian McCullar]

Rockets' Brent Barry knocked Derek Fisher to the floor and then hit the deck himself. Barry bounced up and began woofing at Fisher as if he had been wronged in some way, shape or form instead of the other way around.
What were you smoking? Yes it was a hard foul, but watch as Fisher shoves him into the court on the way down. Also what about the no call on the Laker that fouled Battier where he needed stitches. You seem to have forgotten to mention that one. What about Koby throwing the elbow at Battier. You see what you want to see Homer.

[Alfredo]

Your team seems to think they are the best team in the last 50 years. You are not giving us any credit and that's the way we want it. Keep thinking that it was the way you played that got us a win. Keep thinking it's rust, or timing. We will keep winning the games, while you guys keep blaming rust and timing.

[WhatDa]

Why does this loss and all the talk remind me of the Lakers/Pistons series.
I remember it now. The day after game one everyone saying, "Well....the Lakers are gonna take the next 6" and "they needed that loss to get their game up" and on and on. I hope this doesn't end up like that, I'm an L.A. fan so let me remind everyone.... the DODGERS ARE KICKIN' SOME SERIOUS REAR. HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

[Phil Jackson]

Hey people? Remember earlier this season when I was asked to compare Michael and Kobe, and I said they were both great competitors, great players, but that MJ had a physical advantage over Kobe because his hands were so much bigger than Kobe's?

Well, I think everyone here knows what I was really saying. When we lost Shaq, we lost some serious manhood, and Kobe's still trying to compensate. Think about it. Kobe hit on a high school age chick and married her. Why? Because she didn't know they came bigger than that.

You know Vanessa's rooting for Yao.

[Jeff]

A poor performance by the Lakers as they lack the killer instinctand consistant 100% effort in the playoffs. If they can't get motivated now, there season is over.

[SFV resident]

Man Yao doesn't look all that good but he freakin killed the Lakers. Kobe was all scared, and so was Gasol, Andrew, and lamar.

The Chinese guy can shoot and at 29 ft tall, everyones afraid to shoot anywhere near the basket.

lakers will win series, but it won't be easy.