An Exciting Game 5 Tonight!
The Lakers hope to win tonight's home game against the Rockets, thereby closing out the series. A loss would send the series back to Houston for Game 6 on Saturday, May 1st. Kobe has court hearings in Eagle, CO all day today, so he might be late to the game's 7:00 pm tipoff.
To win tonight, the Lakers will need:
- Shaq to stay out of foul trouble
- Malone to keep hitting those open shots
- Kobe on the floor, as he commands a double-team and opens up spot-up shooters
- A good shooting night for Fisher and Rush
The Lakers have an opportunity tonight to show that they have the mettle of a championship team. Winners win games. Let's hope for a decisive victory from the Lakers tonight, which would give them a morale boost going into the second round. Let's go Lakers!
Random statistic: Phil Jackson has coached 13 first round playoff series, and has never lost. A win tonight will give Phil a career 14-0 first-round playoff record. Interestingly, though, the throughout the L.A. Lakers history, their only two first-round playoff loses came from Houston (1981 and 1996).