I have come to some conclusions that you are free to tear apart:
1) The Lakers are young and inexperienced. This seems impossible given that they are, well, the Lakers, but this team is really not playoff tested. Beyond Kobe and Fisher, you have Gasol (whose first playoff experience was last year, when they cakewalked to the Finals and then were toasted by a real team), Lamar Odom (experienced), Trevor Ariza (2 playoff games last year), Bynum (no playoff games last year), Farmar (perennial backup, had a horrible playoffs last year), and Vujacic and Walton (experienced, but both struggling this year). The Lakers "best five" (Kobe, Fisher, Gasol, Bynum, Ariza/Odom) basically have no winning experience on the front line.
2) The Yao-less Rockets are a Horrible Matchup. Without Yao, there is no place to hide Bynum on defense. This forces the Lakers to play small-ball, which is not the strength of either this team or the triangle offense. The triangle relies on a good passing bigman in the post, but Gasol is struggling as a post player against smaller, quicker Rockets forwards. Bynum can't play on offense because he is a tremendous defensive liability against the mighty mite offense the Rockets are running.
3) The Lakers are Arrogant. This team succeeded in the playoffs last year when they were the underdogs and everyone thought they were a year away. This team struggled against crappy opponents in the regular season this year because they went in expecting to win even if they are not as sharp as they could be. This team is lacking a Garnett-type leader, a blue-collar, lunch pail type player who jerks them back into focus when they are coasting. The Zen-master is the exact opposite of this type of leader. He is trying to make them relax when it appears the problem is they are too relaxed.
4) Vujacic can't shoot. It is easy to forget that this off-season the Lakers got rid of an energy guy (Turiaf) and resigned Vujacic for big money because of his great shooting in the playoffs. The Rockets are able to clog the lane and prevent Kobe from getting his shots in large part because no one is hitting any 3's (except Ariza, who is not exactly a feared shooter). Vujacic was supposed to play the John Paxson roll on this team, and instead he is playing the Luc Longley roll.
5) The NBA is Fixed. Okay, I just threw this in because I told Laker Girl last night when the score was 21-3 that, if I didn't know better, I'd say the Lakers were throwing the game. David Stern was in attendance after all.
As for Sunday....who the hell knows. At this point, I would be hard pressed to go against the Lakers with their backs against the wall -- but at the same time the Lakers have shown they cannot match the Rockets' mental toughness. If the Rockets get out to a lead I have no faith that the Lakers can mount a rally.
