Do I have to talk about the first half?
It was horrible. Kobe was good most of the time, except at the end of the half where he started chucking. A couple of those shots were bad shots, even for Kobe. Meanwhile, no one else can score, and the defense has just been horrid.
This comes down to one, very simple thing: Effort. The Lakers came out expecting to win without really trying. And they haven't really tried. They have been standing around on defense and on offense, and that's just not going to get it done against a motivated, emotional Rockets team.
The second half boils down to two questions:
- Can the Lakers get their act together, and come to play in the second half?
- Can a Rockets' team seriously lacking in depth and talent keep up this kind of energy and high level play as the game wears on?
Let's hope that's a yes and a no, or this series will be going to at least six games.