Lakers, Rockets Take Beef to Houston

The cameras have moved to Houston, where the Rockets and Lakers will rev up for the third scene Friday night. NBA fans already knew this is a must-watch series, just given the personalities and styles involved. Kobe has a penchant for showmanship; Ron Artest's tax returns actually list "entertainer" as his current occupation. The Lakers have become known as the lig's most elite finesse team, while Houston is full of bullies and bruisers. The script, my friends, is excellent.

But the execution has been equally superb, with an upset win by the Rockets in Game 1 (featuring Kobe and co-star Pau Gasol laying a brick patio) and a staggering brushback by the Lakers in Game 2. Elbows, yapping, gamesmanship -- this is competitive basketball at its most uncomfortable and thus at its most intriguing.

A major development has been the realization that, no, it wasn't just the Jazz that kept Andrew Bynum under wraps. He is not well. He has done almost nothing in this series. I say almost because he did get some buckets in Game 1, and his defense in limited Game 2 minutes was passable. Pau, Lamar Odom and Joey Crawford were able to lock out Yao Ming in Game 2. Don't rely on that continuing. Yao is too good and (well) too big to be shut out for quarters at a time by strong but not STRONG defenders. Provided he avoids the useless fouls that killed him in Game 2, he should have little trouble creating offense down low.

Still, the Houston offense has looked to reside somewhere between odd and bad. The shot creation problems are rampant. Ron-Ron, let's be honest, sometimes takes bad shots because he has to. When you get the ball back with seven seconds on the clock, it's hard to run a decent play. Shane Battier, for all his defensive mettle, has been an offensive disaster. You'd think such a smart, long player could learn how to dribble out of trouble. Aaron Brooks is speedy, as we saw in Game 1. But he's also small -- not short, but small. All over. Getting to the rim for Brooks relies not just on beating his man, but catching the help defense completely off-guard. This didn't work in Game 2, because the Lakers bigs paid attention to Brooks. Kyle Lowry is in a similar position, only defenders slack off him because he can't shoot, he's not as quick, and he can finish with a touch of contact. But so long as he's taking jumpers, the Lakers defense wins the battle.

We're discussing the Houston point guards so much because, of course, Derek Fisher will sit Game 3. As a player, he's not nearly as important as any other Laker starter. But as a Laker, he might be No. 2 only to Kobe. He's such a calming, assertive force in the huddle and in the offense. He's a fearless player, and he's one of the few NBA players who can get by almost entirely on gravitas and smarts. Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown are probably both more talented than Fisher, every day. But Fisher's mistakes are rare; even when he commits one, he makes it look good. Like the body blow to Luis Scola. Smart folks swear this was a good, smart play, suspension be damned. And I agree. Or at least Fisher made it look that way, like the Lakers needed someone to nail a Rocket (preferably the elbow-y one) in the chest.

Kobe is the only other Laker who can make that play, and frankly you don't want Kobe making that play. Being forced to start Sasha Vujacic due to a Kobe suspension is no way to win Game 3. So Fisher did exactly what the Lakers think they needed, what it seems they needed. He can't do that in Game 3. It's ethereal, it's immeasurable ... but it's hard to deny it matters.

Beyond the Fisher and Bynum issues, the Lakers need to hope Kobe can continue to hit 20-footers with a hand in his face. I prefer to side with the law of probabilities that would assure us that, no, Kobe did not suddenly become a 70% shooter on long twos. But at some point, Kobe is going to figure out how to crack Battier's force field, and Kobe's going to get into the paint. And the Lakers will be much better off for it. Kobe's too good, too smart to rely on these bad shots the entire series. Maybe it won't happen in Game 3, since (minus Fisher) Kobe is the designated shooter. But it should happen at some point.

Game 3 begins at 9:30 PM ET on ESPN.