Lakers Lose in Houston Like It’s 1999

Eras come, eras go but Laker turmoil remains.

The NBA playoffs returned here for the first time in five years, when, coincidentally, the Lakers were in town.

The Rockets then had Hakeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley and Scottie Pippen, all nearing the end of the line.

The Lakers had Shaquille O’Neal, then 27, and Kobe Bryant, 20, but were weary after a harrowing season with Dennis Rodman, who had been recently dumped, with Kurt Rambis coaching and Phil Jackson’s arrival months away.

Five years later, the Lakers have three more titles than they had then but still have issues, and may be months away from losing Jackson or Bryant or both.

By the way, was 31 minutes in the first three periods enough for Gary Payton on Friday night?

Five years later, the Rockets are in a new era and a new arena, with Yao Ming on the scoreboard video screens, teaching fans Chinese, as in “fangshou” for “defense.” And moments later, when the Lakers have the ball, the fans are chanting “Fangshou! Fangshou!”

Nevertheless, on Friday night it wasn’t the Yao Show but the Return of Stevie Franchise. Steve Francis dropped three-pointers and made dazzling layups as in his pre-Yao days, scoring 27 points with nine rebounds for the Rockets, who won, 102-91, cutting the Laker lead in the series to 2-1.

“That,” said Francis, “was my best playoff game ever.”

In his fifth season, and first postseason, it was also his third playoff game ever.

With Jeff Van Gundy coaching, and Yao in the pivot, Francis has been learning restraint, not to mention professionalism, the hard way.

Most of his numbers were at personal lows this season, except for his turnovers, which were still a scary 3.7 a game.

Then, of course, there was his escapade when he missed the team flight for a game in Phoenix to attend Super Bowl parties here.

This led to local speculation that two young, volatile guards were at least one too many for the sober-minded Van Gundy. Actually, the way it was phrased by a local writer was, “They’re going to break up the knuckleheads.”

If Francis is going anywhere, however, it will have been at least one night too late for the Lakers. For one night, restraint went out the window and Stevie Franchise rode again.

“I still feel that way, regardless,” Francis said afterward. “If you want me to score, I can do that.

“At the same time, we have so many weapons. Like I said, we won 43 games in the regular season [45 actually] and it didn’t take me getting 27 points a night. To the media, it [his play] might seem like a drop-off but we have five guys averaging in double figures and I figure that a bigger testament, rather than averaging 20 points....

“It feels great but I mean, I’m 27, this is my third playoff game but I know you can’t get too high in this league because the Lakers are definitely the team to beat.”

The nightly clash of titans went to O’Neal. Out-pointed by Yao, 31-27, in the first two games, O’Neal came back to score 25 to Yao’s 18.

Nevertheless, it was Yao, hitting a tough left-handed jump hook over O’Neal while getting hit in the mouth with 1:51 left, after the Lakers cut a 16-point lead to four, that helped get the Rockets their first playoff victory since 1999.

This followed three days of a drumroll on Yao’s psyche, encouraging him to forget about being such a nice guy.

“He’s very humble, which is a blessing and, at times, a curse,” said Van Gundy before the game.

“I think humility’s a great thing. I think one of the great demeanors he can learn from is Tim Duncan, who’s obviously a humble, team-oriented superstar, but also a fierce, fierce competitor who understands his impact on the game....

“He [Yao] is in his second full year and it remains to be seen where he’s going to take his career. Is he going to be a very good player, which is what he is? Is he going to be a great player, one of the all-time greats? I don’t know. We’ll find out over time....

“I’m not sure that he always appreciates just where he can take us.... He doesn’t mind being a backup singer and maybe at times, too much.”

O’Neal picked up a quick foul on Yao. Van Gundy then switched Kelvin Cato onto O’Neal, who devoured the Rocket power forward, 13 points’ worth in the first 5:19.

However, O’Neal, who had six shots to that point, got 10 more the rest of the game and the Rockets proceeded to take the Laker fangshou apart.

Some nights it still goes like that for the Lakers, now as in ’99.