Inspired play

Did you see the way the Houston Rockets handled the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday?

It was probably the worst Lakers loss of the season and looked like a sign that the Lakers probably won't win an NBA Championship this year.

For the entire game, it looked like the Rockets had a 5-4 man advantage, because no matter the situation, the Rockets always had a man open for a three-pointer or jump shot. They picked the wrong day to give Houston room.

Houston's Aaron Brooks ran the offense flawlessly and exploded for 34 points, a career playoff high in his young two-year career.

Without Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming, who suffered a stress fracture in his foot in Game 3, the Rockets looked even better than before. Without Yao, the Rockets were able to run all over the place and create opportunities for everyone.

Without Yao, the Rockets were still able to outrebound the Lakers 43-37.

Ron Artest shot 4-19 from the field for a very low eight points.

The Rockets didn't have a healthy center on the roster, starting 6-foot, 6-inch Chuck Hayes in the middle. Hayes may have only scored two points, but his defense was a huge factor in Game 4.

It took Los Angeles 3:30 to score their first basket and by the midway point of the first quarter, they were already down 17-4. The Rockets never let up.

The only Lakers who even bothered to show up were Pau Gasol (30 pts, 9 rebs.) and Shannon Brown off the bench (14 pts). After the first quarter, L.A. was down 13. They were able to close the gap to 10 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little too late.

All signs should have pointed to an easy Laker victory, provided they played a normal game, but they didn't.

The Rockets hit the Lakers hard in the early going, and Los Angeles looked dazed and confused throughout the remainder of the game, giving up one easy hoop after another.

Laker fans have to be concerned about this showing from the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, especially after Denver's come-from-behind win in Dallas on Saturday to go up 3-0 in their series and Cleveland up 3-0 on the Atlanta Hawks.

The Lakers will not win a title if they play more games like this. The NBA is full of teams who are perfectly willing and able to take advantage of mental weaknesses like this.

Los Angeles will have a lot of mental issues to fix if they want to prove me wrong.