In Game 1 on Monday night, the Houston Rockets got everyone’s attention by showing that they would not kneel before the mighty Los Angeles Lakers and that, sure enough, we had a series on our hands.

Wednesday night’s Game 2 escalated the stakes.

Via their steely resolve charging back from a second quarter deficit without the help of their superstar, the Rockets more than got our attention: they served notice that they are not intimidated one iota by the Lakers.

At least until Derek Fisher delivered a message by way of an Ovechkin-esque cross-check that changed everything.

In delivering his punishment to Luis Scola, Fisher awoke his teammates. The impact that hit made wasn’t felt by Scola, but by every Laker not named Bryant or Gasol. Fisher’s action can symbolically and literally be pointed to as the moment the rest of Lakers showed up to this postseason.

He effectively changed the course of these playoffs.

His ploy to spark a reaction was certainly helped by the Rocket’s willingness to comply to his invitation to turn this series into a 1980’s throwback.

The mercurial Ron Artest, who was in the midst of his best game all season, proceeded almost immediately to lose control at an inopportune time as only Artest can. Between his predictably deranged reaction to getting physical with Bryant and Von Wafer’s stunningly idiotic spat with his own coach, the Rockets imploded.

Fisher’s message was delivered loud and clear: not just a finesse team, these Lakers hear the music and are here to dance afterall.

Just as Kobe Bryant had been trying to do with his intensity all game, Fisher showed his teammates that they were now united against a common enemy.

The challenge they face arrived sooner in the playoffs than most thought, but arrive it has.

These were the Lakers as we haven’t seen them in a long, long time. Their swagger and overconfidence was replaced, at least for a quarter, with a testiness and fire not seen during this roster’s current run. While it should not have taken Scola chirping with Lamar Odom or Artest being Artest to give L.A. this additional motivation, it arrived just the same and it just may of swung the team’s trajectory for the rest of the season.

While these late dramatics were important, just as critical was the pace the Lakers established from opening tip. They did a better job of sharing the ball better, ran more, pushed at every opportunity and saw it pay off in spades.

The pacing of the game was completely different from Game 1 and much, much too fast for Houston to maintain over a full 48 minutes. When they play at that speed, the Lakers become a boulder going downhill, where they have too much speed and too much skill for anyone.

Gasol fronted Yao Ming effectively and made sure to attack him on the other end, countering Yao’s size and strength with quickness. An engaged Gasol is a dangerous Gasol: Yao picked up third foul on an offensive just six minutes into the second quarter and was a non-factor from that point on.

Meanwhile, Bryant’s focus intensified to an almost-frightful resolve. Immediately he was making shots he had no busy taking, and seemed to be willing the ball in. He got to his spots quicker in Game 2, with more pronounced movements and sharper stopping. When he finally began attacking the basket in the second half, it was already too late for Houston.

40 points on 16-for-27 from the floor: a superstar performance.

Some statistics worth noting: Los Angeles was +15 in fast break points, +7 in the turnover battle, shot 50% from the floor and 6-17 from three, and caused Yao to post a plus/minus of -28 for the game.

A ton of chatter, lots of chirping, and one big statement from Derek Fisher defined this game. This series will likely only get feistier this weekend as we head back to Houston, meaning more battling and renewed hostilities.

We certainly do have a series on our hands after all.

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