Finally, real basketball resumes tonight. Although the Hawks and Heat tried their best to put us to sleep for the rest of the Playoffs, the Lakers are back to wake us up. The quest for banner #15 resumes tonight against the Houston Rockets, and we're going to keep today's links focused on the Lakers...
Our own Ryebreadraz breaks down the Lakers vs. Rockets position by position.
Forum Blue & Gold's Kurt gives a preview of what to expect when Houston has the ball, and when the Lakers have the ball.
ESPN's Scouts Inc.'s David Thorpe's scouting breakdown.
Just like the four regular season games, Kevin Ding expects the Rockets to fizzle out at the end of the games. He also gives his 3 keys to the series.
The Lakers insist they won't take Rockets lightly.
Luke's out for tonight's game.
Kobe has a sore throat, but will play.
Jeff Miller expects that the rest of Bryant and the Lakers will be sore from this series.
Of course, one of the major storylines will be Kobe vs. Ron Ron. Here's the Daily New's Elliot Teaford's article about them. Also, The LA Times Mike Bresnahan details the on-court rivalry between Kobe and Ron Artest. If you ask me, the "rivalry" seems awfully one sided in Kobe's favor.
Mark Heisler, "Artest in launch mode for the Rockets."
J.A. Adande states the obvious.
Click on through for more links.
LA Daily New's Ramona Shelburne's Series Matchups and Prediction.
Fanhouse's Brett Pollakoff's Series predictions. Lakers in 5.
This Houston Chronicle blogger picks the Lakers in 6.
Jeff Van Gundy's keys to success for the Rockets vs. the Lakers.
Could the Lakers be in for a surprise in Round 2?
Umm, Josh is in a respectable 12th place right now, and Kurt is in 1st. Proving Lakers fans are most likely the smartest NBA fans. Don't be fooled by the celebs in 1st Row.
Hardwood Paroxysm's Matt Moore is experimenting with a formula that picked the Lakers in 5 in the 1st Round, but picks the Rockets in 6 in the 2nd Round. Don't worry, his bran pick the Lakers, "So I’m probably going to whif on that. But I’ll stick with it for the fun of the experiment."
Yes, grungedave is right about the NBA Executive of the Year Award, but T-Mac getting hurt was the best move the Rockets made, and unless Daryl Morey hurt him, then he didn't do anything else too special.
Oh, and as we all expected, LeBron will win his 1st MVP.
Audio/Video:
Lakers Practice Reports 5/03/09
ESPN's NBA Today
ESPN Monday Playoff Preview.
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