Lakers-Rockets Game Five: Bedtime

Going into tonight's Game Five in Los Angeles, there existed the faintest hope that maybe, just maybe, Team Rocket could continue to make the Lake Show sweat, especially after their shocking Game Four win. With Yao Ming on the bench, the theory went that the team was better on defense, Aaron Brooks had more room to penetrate, and the tag-team of Shane Battier and Ron Artest were wearing Kobe Bryant down.

Um, not so much.

The simple fact is that when the Lake Show wants to play, they've simply got another gear that Team Rocket does not. Despite a quick start by the visitors that led to a 7-point lead in the first quarter, the Lake Show began to force turnovers and get good minutes from Andrew Bynum. Suddenly, the Lake Show just looked much longer, with tons of easier looks, and the Rockets need to hit a ton of threes just to stay close. They didn't and it wasn't: at the end of the third quarter, it was 94-54. No, that score wasn't listed in error. I posted this puppy well in advance of the final score.

How dull was it? Laker Fan was bored enough to do the wave -- the wave? So much for LA being all superior to Flyover Land Fan -- for 100 point tacos. TNT had Craig Sager interviewing Kyra Segdwick and Kevin Bacon, and I found it more interesting than the game. (Bacon seemed chemically altered, and I have to give it up for Sedgwick -- it takes something to get your own show as a post-op tranny. What do you mean it isn't?)

The Rockets took their medicine without ugliness, and who knows, maybe they've lulled the home team to sleep again for Game Six. But with Denver looking like they could close things up early, and Kobe Bryant barely having to work for this one, a road close seems much more likely. It will be closer than this one, at any rate.