Battier to Kobe: You Can't Guard Me

Pardon my crow call, but Chuck Hayes! brothers. Hayes has been a stud on defense, he has known his role on offense (role: don't touch the ball unless it's a rebound), and he has a game-high +17 (tied with Shane Battier) as the Rockets lead 54-36. The inability of the Lakers big men to run up a big advantage over their foes can be attributed directly to the efforts of Hayes and partner Luis Scola, who moves a mile a minute while looking like Sloth in motion. "Sneaky agile" is the term, I believe.

But let's return to Battier ... the game's high scorer to date. Shane is outscoring Kobe. Seriously. Given Kobe's insistence on chirping "You can't guard me!" at Battier in Game 2, I had really hoped Shane would give Bean the business. He has not. Sigh. But the business end of four threes has helped Houston build its 18-point lead.

The Lakers could very well come back and win. But at the very least, this has been a fine, fine treat for the unfortunate Rockets fans who watched their dreams get dashed with Yao's broken foot. (And don't even get started with Ewing Theory nonsense. Unless Yao was single-handedly keeping the Lakers from completely giving up on the defensive end.)

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