Who'da Thunk It?

This group of glorious overachievers continue to amaze everyone who sees them. I went to the game last night (thanks to the generosity of a good friend) and have not had so much fun in a long time. My voice is gone and I think I broke some blood vessels in the palms of my hands. With the exception of the first half of the third quarter, there was plenty to clap for all night.

The Rockets had a magnificent 17-1 run to open the game and the Lakers had a similar run to start the second half. Those stretches aside, Houston beat L.A. by 15 points and seemed in control for the whole game. To a man, they played smart basketball. Yes, Ron Artest and Aaron Brooks had their brain farts, but on the whole, both contributed handily to the victory. Artest was a defensive monster, which I'm sure made Rick Addleman extremely happy. He didn't overdribble (very often) or force (many) passes into a crowded lane. He let the point guards be point guards and mostly took shots only when he should have. No player can have great shooting nights every night, but if they take their shots in the flow of the game and according to the offensive strategy, the coach will not complain.

Shane Battier did a yeoman's job on Kobe Bryant. Kobe scored 32 points, but it took him 27 shots to do it and Bryant never got his teammates involved to pick up the slack. Great job, Shane. Luis Scola was extremely effective early, getting the Rockets off to a great start. Aaron Brooks scored early and often, leading the Rockets with 26 points and keeping the Lakers on their heels all night. Carl Landry was very active on both ends of the court, hitting all six of his shots and grabbing nine rebounds in 27 minutes. Also credit Rick Addleman for having Brooks help defensively on Pau Gasol when Gasol moved into the paint. It virtually shut down Gasol's offense and the rest of the Lakers could not hit their open shots.

In short (if that's still possible), it was a great night for Rockets basketball. They had $40 million dollars' worth of players on the bench in street clothes and $18 million on the court, and they wiped the floor with the defending Western Conference chamions.