Trying to reach the NBA Finals for the second straight year, the Lakers will host the opener of the conference finals against the Denver Nuggets tomorrow night.
The Lakers have been so up and down in this series that coach Phil Jackson said before Game 5 that they had a little bit of Jekyll and Hyde in them. That was the night the Lakers raced to a 40-point win at home, only to follow it up two nights later with a 15-point loss, the second straight game they were blindsided in Houston.
There are any number of theories as to why the Lakers have had a split personality.
Asked what the Lakers learned from this series, Kobe Bryant cracked: "That we're bipolar."
Added Lamar Odom: "To make it interesting. It's Hollywood, you know."
It turns out that home-court advantage and a smothering defense were all it took to jump-start the Lakers.
The Lakers dominated the paint on both ends, forcing the Rockets into turnovers and bad shots. They owned the backboards with a 55-33 advantage and blocked 10 shots. They had an 8-0 lead a few minutes in and widened it to 25 points on Gasol's jump hook shortly before halftime.
After the game, Bryant patted Gasol on the shoulder and offered words of congratulations.
"I was just proud of the way he played," Bryant said. "He answered the challenge and he played like one of the best players in the world. I was just excited for him."
Gasol kept Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks from penetrating, as he did often in this series. Gasol had 12 defensive rebounds and swatted away three shots.
Gasol made 10 of 19 shots. He left to a nice ovation with 3:34 remaining in the game.
Trevor Ariza scored 15 points while Bryant and Andrew Bynum had 14 apiece.
Brooks was held to 13 points and Luis Scola had 11 for Houston. Ron Artest (7 points) and Shane Battier (3) were nonfactors.
"I think we learned that if we play hard every night and we're ready to compete, starting on the defensive end, we're going to give ourselves a chance," Gasol said. "Hopefully we're going to carry that into the next round and to a championship. That's something we need to do consistently, no matter what, no matter where we play."
