Four down, 12 to go for the purple and gold.
Beating the Jazz 4-1 in a first-round series that concluded on Monday, the Lakers had to wait three more days to learn that they’d be welcoming the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets, who handled Portland 4-2 to advance. Their reward is a Lakers’ team that beat the bunch from Texas all four times in the regular season, in large part by dominating fourth quarters that were predictably keyed by Kobe Bryant.
Surely there’s no denying that L.A. is the deeper, longer and overall more talented team, but perhaps the most important element to this series will be mental: Was getting out of the first round for the first time in 12 years the peak for the Rockets?
To read the full preview, featuring position-by-position breakdowns and two podcasts, CLICK HERE.
