The national media is perplexed by the Rockets-Lakers series. Plenty of scribes have questioned everything about the Lakers from their players' resolve to their head coach's health. But few have pointed out how good the Rockets really are. This team is ocean-deep and has developed the type of chemistry people write books and songs about.

What if TMac and Yao were completely healthy? Would this team be charging for a title or would they be absent the type of togetherness they've developed under adversity? We'll know that about the time we know what would have happened if Matt Schaub had stayed healthy all through last Texans season.

I keep thinking how proud Daryl Morey must have been watching the remains of a roster he constructed, coached by a man he hired, take down the Lakers in a big playoff game at home to force game 7.

Who was the MVP of game 6? Scola set the tone with low post offense in the first half that wasn't the more pie-in-the-sky type of early point production we saw in game 4. Landry was fantastic in the 2nd half. But Brooks served notice that he might indeed be a special player. After all, because he's only in his second year we probably haven't seen the whole iceberg.

Yet the Rockets are all about defense first. It's easy to get swept away in scoring but to hold the Lakers to 80 in a big game is almost as tough as getting Jack Nicholson to remove his shades in public.

Game seven puts a ton of pressure on a Laker team that has to get to the finals to consider this an acceptable season. The Rockets are way ahead of that curve. This team has exceeded all relative expectations and continues to play with a passion that could take it one precious step further. Despite getting blown out their last time in L.A. no one should be shocked if they stop and shoot their way into the conference finals.