ROCKET NOTES

It was only one play in the first quarter of Game 2.

A simple, textbook give-and-go. But so cleanly did Kobe Bryant make the entry pass and cut to the basket, and so smoothly did Shaquille O’Neal send the bounce pass back to Bryant, that a day later, even Hakeem Olajuwon saluted the precision of the play.

“That was a natural play,” said Olajuwon, who, forced to choose between moving to cut off Bryant or surrendering position to O’Neal, had to let Bryant fly to the hoop for a dunk.

“Natural. Give-and-go. That’s basketball. To me, you’ve got to give credit to Shaq, that he recognizes. And Kobe, give him a lot of credit also, that he passes in, and he cuts.

“I saw him. And if it wasn’t Shaq, I would naturally block [Bryant’s path]. But if I do it, he’d give it to Shaq for a dunk. I have to give up one.

“That’s just basketball the way it should be played.”

O’Neal has always said that he considers Olajuwon the best center in the game. On Wednesday, Olajuwon said that O’Neal and Bryant, working together, could be a dominant pairing.

“That’s how they should complement each other,” Olajuwon said. “Shaq should help Kobe’s game, tremendously. Anybody that’s guarding Shaq cannot leave him. You can’t. . . . That gives Kobe, a good leaper, opportunities to go down the middle every time.

“That’s how you develop that chemistry--not just for this series, for their career. They can have that kind of combination for their career, for a long time.

“Both are very young. They should have at least seven years of points together like that. Anything less . . . they would not be maximizing themselves.”

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The Rockets looked at the stat sheet from Game 2 and noticed that every Laker who played double-digit minutes shot 50% or better, which included several tough shots and a 10-for-18 display from three-point distance.

“We feel like they’re not going to shoot the ball as well in our building,” Scottie Pippen said, referring to tonight’s game at Houston’s Compaq Center.

“At least, we hope not. If they shoot the ball like that, then hey, crown them NBA champs.”