Lakers Humbled by Game 4 Loss

Of the mood at Monday’s practice, Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson told the L.A. Times it was “somber,” while adding that the Lakers “recognize we went to Houston and did what we needed to do.” Although Jackson may have put on a brave face for reporters, in private he told his players he was “dismayed.” Of his decision to keep the heat off his young players, Jackson said: “Trevor Ariza is a young guy, this is his first time in it, and we’ve got to get him going. We also know that Sasha Vujacic’s been struggling and Shannon Brown’s a new player on our ballclub. They all play for us, but to depend on them, we’re still not exactly sure where they’re at. I haven’t called them out on this regard yet. I watched Boston go through it last year; they couldn’t win off their home court in the first two rounds, yet they got better and better.”

Houston’s Aaron Brooks has been getting ample attention after the Rockets’ Hame 4 victory. The Rockets were playing without Yao Ming, their star player, and Brooks stepped it up Sunday at Toyota Center. With a career-high 34 points, Brooks with 12 for 20 from the field, four for nine from the three-point range and had three rebounds and four assists in 39 minutes. Brooks spoke about how Houston coped with the injuries of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Dikembe Mutombo, telling the Times, “We don’t never count ourselves out. If anybody is ready for this, it would be us. We’ve been through a lot this year. Mac being out. Deke being out. Shane [Battier] being out in the beginning of the year. Now we’ve got Yao out. It’s the same thing. It seem like we just keep going.”

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