Lakers Have a Convert

HOUSTON —  Board bandwagon here.

The Lakers may inspire doubts, especially before spring comes and their eyes are open, but if they start rolling, it doesn’t take long for everyone to see their virtues.

They finished with the third-best record in the Western Conference and the fourth-best in the NBA, but two games into this series, Rocket Coach Jeff Van Gundy is calling them “the best team in basketball.”

“When you look at San Antonio, San Antonio plays great almost nightly,” Van Gundy said Thursday. “I mean, I’m just so impressed, watching them, their whole thing.

“I think Minnesota’s the same way. I think what the Lakers have is another gear. I think they pace themselves well through the year and they have another gear, and I think we’re seeing another gear in the playoffs.

“And so I think we just have to be that much better to win the game.

“I think [Karl] Malone is such a factor. He wasn’t there the first three times that we played them.... Sometimes when you’re thinking about how you’re going to deal with [Shaquille] O’Neal, or how you’re going to deal with [Kobe] Bryant, and then you sort of smack yourself. You’re thinking about Malone third?

“You forget how good he is. One thing that’s underrated, I saw Phil Jackson say this today and it’s really true -- he’s a great defender. He’s by far their best pick-and-roll defender. Moves his feet still great at 39 or 40. I think he’s a great anchor at both ends of the floor.”

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Van Gundy mused that with Yao Ming shooting 12 for 30 in the first two games, “it’s going to be tough for us,” and Houston players and media outlets spent the three-day break suggesting to Yao that he get it in gear.

“He’s our catalyst because the majority of plays run through the post,” said teammate Jim Jackson.

“So when we’ve really dominated the Lakers, it really started with Yao and his post presence and what he did, because when he starts off well, they tend to help a little bit more ... and that frees up the driving lanes and open jump shots. So, it’s important for Yao to establish himself early.”

Said Van Gundy: “From all of our guys, we don’t need any more than they’re capable of giving.”

Yao has always conducted group interviews through his interpreter, Colin Pine, but did some in English, noting he didn’t think the Lakers were putting “all their energy into the first round,” adding, “They may be looking beyond that. We need to take advantage of that.”

This resulted in a media flutter, with all Rockets being asked whether they thought the Lakers were taking them seriously.

For the record, all the Rockets did.

“Something could have gotten lost in translation there,” Van Gundy said.