Have the Rockets Won Two Games, or Have the Lakers Lost Two?

Having watched the Lakers' 40-point victory over the Rockets in Game 5 last night, I officially have no idea what's going on in this series.

On paper, the Lakers are absolutely the most talented team in the league. They've got a superstar who excels in the clutch, twin towers in the middle, and Lamar Odom—who would start for any other team in the playoffs—coming off the bench.

In short, they're loaded.

The Rockets, on the other hand, have more guys wearing Armani than Nike at each game. Tracy McGrady is out. Yao is out. Dikembe Mutombo is eating a Werther's and wondering when his Social Security checks will start.

These Rockets have pulled out two wins—one hugely lopsided—with the cards stacked against them.

And yet, as much as I like this Rockets team, it's hard to feel good about their chances to win the series. Last night, the slumbering giant that is the Lakers awoke and gave the Rockets an epic pounding.

I don't think it discounts the quality of the Rockets' two W's to ask if the Lakers' lack of focus was the real determining factor in those games.

The Rockets clearly caught the Lakers off guard in Game 1, winning by eight. L.A. had had a few days off, and Utah hadn't played them nearly as physically as Houston.

The Lakers responded with sloppy play—the sore thumb in the box score was that the Lakers committed nearly twice as many fouls (26 to 14) as their opponents. Tack on to that 2-for-18 shooting from behind the arc for L.A.

Even though the Lakers led in almost every other statistical category (rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, plus fewer turnovers), it's easy to see how they gave it away.

Game 4 was even more exaggerated. Kobe Bryant didn't bother defending Shane Battier, and as a result, Battier went 5-for-10 from deep.

Although he outclassed Bryant, the bigger problem was the "big" problem: The Lakers couldn't manage to pound it in the middle, even though the Rockets started 6'6" Chuck Hayes at center.

Know who else is 6'6"? The Kobester.

Pau Gasol was productive in the middle, scoring 30 points, but Lamar Odom ended with just two, and Andrew Bynum goose-egged it.

Really? Odom and Bynum score two and zero against a team that put their second-shortest starter at center?

The final score showed Houston winning by 12, but the game wasn't even nearly that close.

Houston was able to exploit L.A.'s biggest weakness, at the point. I won't take that as an excuse, though. It's not like the Lakers had never seen a quick point guard before.

They'd just taken four of five against Deron Williams and the Jazz.

I'll give mad credit to Aaron Brooks, but I'm not taking back my criticism of the Lakers. If you didn't know, you'd think the Lakers were the ones with all their stars on the bench.

Now, it has to be against the rules somewhere to accuse a Phil Jackson team of lacking focus. If anybody can get these guys going, it should be the Zen Master.

But this team has added some apathy to their approach to the game, giving away leads and not closing out games when they should.

Not even a coach with a couple fists full of championship rings has been able to change that. Perhaps it needs to start on the floor, with Kobe leading the way and kicking this team back into high gear.

Will the Lakers still win this series? Yeah, they only need one more win, and they get another game at Staples.

But will they get past Denver in the next round?

Only if they get their act together.