They Finally Get Some Backup

Having seen their reserves outplayed in the first two games of this series, the Rockets were torn between addressing the problem or just waiting for the Lakers to return to form.

“They just hit shots,” reserve forward Maurice Taylor said before Game 3 of the Laker reserves, who outscored Houston’s bench players, 50-31, in Games 1 and 2. “Normally, they don’t do that ...

“Normally, you’ve got to pick and choose your poison. Of course, you don’t want their big four to get going, so you’d rather have [the reserves] taking shots like that. And they hit them.”

Said Steve Francis: “They hit a lot of threes off their bench. If we play them honestly and don’t let them get open looks, we can pretty much contain their bench.”

In Game 3, the Laker reserves continued to shoot well from three-point range, making four of seven attempts. But the Rocket reserves finally outscored them, 21-20, though it was largely a one-man effort as Taylor had 16 points.

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Francis, playing in his first playoff series, says he has noticed how hard everyone plays. That illustrates a Rocket problems: All but two Lakers -- rookies Luke Walton and Brian Cook -- knew that.

Nevertheless, Coach Jeff Van Gundy and the Rocket veterans are trying to discourage that “growing pains” talk.

“I mean, they say that,” Jackson said. “but why do you have to go through it?

“If you can compete on this level during the regular season, if you have the mind-set to go out there and play hard each and every possession and do the things you’re capable of doing, I don’t think it’s mandatory.”

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Yao Ming on his success against O’Neal during the season: “When you talk about a few great games that I played great against Shaq, that was like a first step. Shaq gave me space. He was not as strong on defense. That was a first step. Now is the second step. He played harder against me. One day, if I pass that ... if I pass that step, then the third is coming.

“He’s just playing harder. It’s not just technique. Also here,” Yao added, tapping his head.

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Van Gundy on Yao: “He doesn’t have bravado, which a lot of players have -- but he does have true confidence, which is very distinctive. I think a lot of players in our league don’t have as much confidence as they appear to have. It’s more that bravado.”