Just as we predicted, the Los Angeles Lakers (1st in the West) are about to be seriously tested in their second round playoff series against the Houston Rockets (5th in the West). The Lakers lost Game 1 at home on Monday night, 100-92, after falling behind early, and never recovering to take a serious lead, despite Yao Ming's knee injury that forced him to briefly leave the court during the fourth quarter. There is no doubt that the Lakers are a more talented team than the Rockets, but in Game 1 they simply did not play hard enough, and will have to be much more agressive tonight, if they want to avoid going to Houston for the next two games with a 0-2 score in the series.

{The Lakers need to prove that they are a championship team}

Both Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant seemed to be strangely pleased by the fact that the Lakers lost Game 1, mostly because they had an easy time in the first round against Utah, and needed a serious challenge to improve on their game, and show that they are a championship team. A tough Rockets defense allowed Kobe Bryant to score 32 points in Game 1, but he had only 4 assists, and was forced to work hard for every basket, shooting 14/31 from the field. The Rockets, however, managed to stop everyone else. Andrew Bynum played just 15 minutes because of a foul trouble, and finished with 10 points, while Lamar Odom had just 9 points and 5 rebounds. Overall, the Lakers’ biggest problem was three point shooting, as they were 2/18, including combined 0/8 from Trevor Ariza and Derrick Fisher, two starters who mostly take wide open shots after a double team on Kobe or Gasol.

{The Rockets are for real}

The Rockets had a lot of problems with injuries to their key players in the last couple of years, and survived a major scare in the fourth quarter of Game 1, after Yao Ming hit his knees hard and was forced to leave the floor for a couple of minutes. However, Yao was not seriously injured, and he returned to finish the game with the total of 28 points and 10 rebounds. The Lakers mostly tried to play Yao one on one, and he made them pay for that, by taking 17 shots from the floor, more than he ever managed in a series against Portland. Ron Artest also played a very good game, finishing with 21 points and 7 assists, along with intense defense on Ariza, and some help on Bryant too. If Artest can keep on playing mature basketball, without taking too many selfish shots, the Rockets will have a very good chance to upset the Lakers.

{Betting verdict)

This will be a very tough game for Houston, since the Lakers now know that their opponent is for real, and will try to bounce back after a poor showing in Game 1. Still the Rockets are having a lot of momentum, and should be able to stay close in Game 2 as well.