Rockets, Lakers, Celtics, Magic

Sometimes I hate the East Coast. I don't mean that in the sense that there is some East Coast conspiracy against sports west of the Mississippi. Nor is this a shot at the weather. Rather it's just a lot harder to follow sports out here. For example right now I'm exhausted after staying up for Rockets/Lakers. However, at least I was rewarded. To review:

- Kobe Bryant was sublime, dropping 40 on Houston. He hit some incredibly well defended shots, threw the ball of the backboard to himself at one point and lit the fuse that got Ron Artest ejected. Count me in the long list of people that can't stand Kobe but respect his game. I hate the MJ comparison as much as the next guy but last night Kobe channeled the whole "I'm going to dominate because you said this guy or guys could stop me."

- Speaking of Artest. I've been fascinated with him since his days at St. John's. Based on interviews I've seen and read I'd argue that he's far more complex than people realize. However, when Artest loses it on the court it's downright frightening. At one point he stormed towards Kobe and later made a throat slashing gesture. Throughout the tirade he appeared to be in kill mode. To be fair who wouldn't be upset after earning an offensive foul while the master of smug (Kobe) got a way with an elbow in the vicinity of the throat? And it pains me to give Kobe credit but he played it perfectly. There's nothing worse than a guy refusing to engage in trash talk. That's exactly what Kobe did as he walked away with his arms up and a "This guy is crazy" look on his face. The whole incident made me wish it was a Rucker Park game. Alas.

- This hasn't come up before but I'm a big fan of the Argentinians. Granted Derek Fisher should not be able to knock down Luis Scola under any circumstances. But I'm still a big Scola fan. He's one of those international players that Tommy Heinsohn begrudgingly respects. On top of that Scola just looks like a great teammate. However, if he had lost his cool, and at one point I thought it could happen, and gone after Sasha Vujacic NBA fans everywhere would have rejoiced. How the Spurs let Scola go continues to baffle me.

- In a night full of incidents that will definitely keep Stu Jackson busy - Eddie House's elbow (was it inadvertant?), Rafer Alston's slap, Kobe's elbow and Artest's tirade - Fisher's forearm/elbow was by far the most premeditated and malicious of the bunch.

- There are still times where the game is too fast for Yao Ming. And he did get in foul trouble last night. However, Rockets fans must be in the "He's all growns up" stage right now. It's been fascinating to watch the growth in Yao's game and demeanor. Even his fire from the bench was impressive.

I'll close with a few random thoughts on the Celtics:

- It's not out of the realm of possibility that Eddie House could have signed with another team before 2008, bounced around the league a few more years and then left the Association before anyone got to see the best he had to offer. Thankfully that didn't happen. Last night he was on fire - 31 points, 11-14 from the field, 4-4 from deep, 5-6 from the line, and 10 times as many points as the Truth. House is definitely annoying other players and their fans, which only means he's bringing something to the table.

- Mark it down. Anthony Johnson will be involved in some sort of stand off/double technical/flagrant foul situation before this series is over.

- NBA players know the repercussions for any sort of non-basketball related aggression on the court. And yet they continue to lose their cool. It's a testament to how intense these games get.