Without their two best players — or at least two best players coming into the 2008-2009 NBA season — the Rockets were thought to be dead in their tracks facing a 2-1 defecit to the Lakers, having lost homecourt advantage just two nights before.

If today’s game was any indication, that isn’t the case. The Rockets pulled out the ol’ whipping stick and went to town on LA, led by Aaron Brooks’ 34 points. Shane Battier chipped in with 23 points, helping carry the load while Ron Artestk, coming off a game where he was ejected, struggled from the field, finishing with just 8 points on 4-19 shooting. Kobe Bryant finished with just 15 points, and, much like the rest of LA’s offense, was largely ineffective most of the game.

Game 5 will be in LA on Tuesday.

Ron Artest is a rather odd individual, and his taste in music goes with his overall personality. Per The Big Lead, he was spotted at a Britney Spears concert, which isn’t the type of ghetto, routy, intense-rap concert I’d expect him to be in attendance of. I guess it’s hard to imagine a guy charging the stands in Indiana, wildly throwing punches in an attempt to kill the guy that threw a paper cup at him, and then singing “Hit Me Baby One More Time” at the Britney concert the next evening.

[The Big Lead]

[Ron Artest is a Man With Eclectic Taste; For Instance, He Attended A Britney Spears Concert Last Night]

It’s a running joke that either Yao Ming or Tracy McGrady are hurt, and the joke will continue its marathon run for at least another season. After missing 47 games between 2008 and 2009, T-Mac is officially calling the season over.

Stephen A. Smith broke the report, and apparently any hope the Rockets had at trading T-Mac to the Nets for VC have ended.

From here, we can hope the Rockets are able to make a push and surge towards the playoffs, and are then able to make it past the first round…. without T-Mac. It’d be the ultimate irony, and would all be sketch his legacy in stone.

Hey, I’m a T-Mac guy, but numbers are numbers, and he just isn’t a winner in this league.

The latest Power Rankings are out, and since I’m too lazy to do one myself, I’ll just link you to theirs. A couple of notes:

• The Celtics are back to No. 1. Yay. I just love the Celtics, with overglorified players like KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Please, LA or Cleveland, please beat them in the playoffs.
• The Nuggets are No. 6. How is it that one good point guard can change a team around so much? No AI, insert Chauncey, and this team is rolling.
• At 23-19, the Heat are No. 10. I know they’ve been surging, but c’mon. No. 10?
• In the same conference and same division, and three games up on the Heat, the Hawks are No. 11. This is the power Dwyane Wade has on a team.
• Beware the 76′ers, who sit at No. 12. After their terrible start, they’ve come on strong and are looking like the playoff threat they were last year.
• At No. 30, is there really any hope for the Kings? They don’t have the worst record, at least, which belongs to No. 26, the 9-35 Thunder.

Ron Artest has been traded to Houston. Again, this is late, but I haven’t had the Internet for a week now, and all of this is news to me.

Artest to Houston? Sheez. It’s easy to dog Houston for their constant first round exit, but last year they made noise with just T-Mac and Shane Battier doing all the work. Add in a healthy Yao Ming, a ridiculously-talented-even-if-he-can-be-overbearing Ron Artest, and you have what’s got to be one of the top four teams in the West. This trade doesn’t make them the favorite — you gotta believe it’ll be New Orleans, LA or San Antonio — but I think it puts them right behind those three teams, and not far behind at all.

Give the guy a break, but then give him a hug. He’s out in the first round. Again.

Dallas Mavericks 94, New Orleans Hornets 99: The Mavericks made a late push at the end of the game to try and salvage the season, but it was an oh-so-feeble attempt to end their imminent doom. Chris Paul had 24 points and 15 assists — 11 of which came in the first half alone — and David West led all Hornets with 25. Dallas exits in the first round for the second year in a row, and there’s speculation that Avery Johnson’s job may be on the line. I’d squash the speculation: If you’re looking for a finger to point, point it at the guy that pulled the trigger on the Jason Kidd trade. Wait. He’s the owner. Bye, Avery.

Philadelphia 76′ers 81, Detroit Pistons 98: Three games into the series, it looked as if Philly may actually steal one. Five games into the season, it doesn’t look like they stand much of a chance. Detroit manhandled Philadelphia, going up 12 at the half, 20 by the third, and then coasted to victory through the fourth. Chauncey Billups led the Pistons with 21 points, followed by Rip Hamilton (20), Rasheed Wallace (19), and Tayshaun Prince (17). Detroit now has a 3-2 lead heading back to Philadelphia.

Utah Jazz 69, Houston Rockets 95: It’s odd the Jazz swept the first two games at home, went back to Utah, where they had a 37-4 record through the regular season, are playing Tracy McGrady — who’s known for choking it up in the first round — and this thing is still going on. Not only going on, but Houston is beating the ever living hell out of them. Utah was 36 percent from the field and 22 percent from beyond the arch. Carlos Boozer led the Jazz with 19 points on 8-18 shooting. T-Mac led the Rockets with 29 points. The series is 3-2, and resumes Thursday night in Utah.

Phoenix Suns 87, San Antonio Spurs 92: They said it would be one of the best first round series ever, and I agreed. Problem is, it wasn’t. The Spurs won the series 4-1 last night, on the back of two solid performances by Tony Parker (31 points), and Tim Duncan (29 points and 17 rebounds). Shaq finished with 13 points and nine boards in only 29 minutes of play, posing the question: Why the hell did they trade for a guy that can’t run the court for more than 29 minutes? Good call, Steve Kerr, it’s nice to see you’re still helping the Spurs win Championships.

Utah Jazz 90, Houston Rockets 84: About every April is time for us to get ready to depart with T-Mac, and the April of 2008 appears to be no different. The Rockets lost 90-84 last night, dropping their second in a row to the Jazz, and now have to take at least one of two from Utah in Utah. The good news for the Rockets is that they don’t need to win both; the bad news is that Utah is 37-4 at home this year, pretty much clinching the Jazz’s chances of making it to the second round. Tracy McGrady had 23 points, nine assists and 13 rebounds, but managed zero points in the fourth quarter, giving him a total of one point in both final quarters played thus far. You hate to put it on the guy’s shoulders, but my God: He’s cursed in first round playoff games.

Washington Wizards 86, Cleveland Cavaliers 116: So much for this thing being a rivalry. Because to be a rivalry, Washington, you have to actually put up a fight. And even if you’re not putting up a fight, at least put your arms over your head to ball up and deflect some of the punches and kicks that are coming your way. LeBron James had 30 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, leading the Cavs to a 2-0 victory, and showing that his stats, just barely better than T-Mac’s stats, are way better in victory. Gilbert Arenas was 2-10 for seven points; beyond that, is it just me, or is the guy starting to look fat? I know he’s been hurt, but goodness: He looks about a hundred cupcakes too heavy right now.

Phoenix Suns 115, San Antonio Spurs 117: I didn’t realize this game was on until there was about 0:15 left in regulation. I turned it on just in time to see Phoenix miss a potential game winning shot, and then watched one of the better overtime sessions I’ve ever seen. Tim Duncan finished the game with 40 points and 15 rebounds, but the remarkable stat for him was his three-point shot with three seconds left to tie the game. Manu Ginobli drove to the basket, was double teamed, whipped it out to Duncan, standing all by himself, and there was a hush as he shot it — the crowd, myself, everyone watching on TV, couldn’t quite believe it was Duncan who chucked it up. He made the shot, sent it to a second overtime, where Phoenix had a chance to tie or win it at the end, but the shot didn’t go down. My prediction is the winner of this series will win the Finals, and after a game like this, you have to wonder if Phoenix can rebound and get back in the series.

Washington Wizards 86, Cleveland Cavaliers 86: You’d think a team would be able to stop Cleveland, given that all they’ve got is LeBron James, but Washington hasn’t quite figured that out in the three straight years they’ve played the Cavs in the opening round. LeBron James had 32 points, backing up some of the talk that Cleveland’s had over the last couple of days with Washington, a team quickly turning into a rival. Gilbert Arenas did not start but finished the game with 24 points, leading all Washington scorers.

Dallas Mavericks 92, New Orleans Hornets 104: The Mavs had a 12 point lead at halftime, looking completely dominant for two quarters, but came out flat in the third and never found that first half rhythm again. Dirk Nowitzki had 31 points and 10 rebounds for the Mavs, but it wasn’t enough to match the effort of Chris Paul, who had 35 points and 10 assists, seemingly blowing by Jason Kidd whenever he wanted. When it’s all said and done, and the Mavs are stuck with Kidd and his massive contract for another two years, this will be considered one of the worst trades in the history of the NBA. Devin George, was a good defensive player and spark off the bench, probably would’ve held Paul under 35 points. Kidd finished the game with 11 points and nine assists, but also had four costly turnovers.

Utah Jazz 93, Houston Rockets 82: If Houston wants to win this series, it really, really needs to win the home games. Utah is rough on the road, unstoppable in Utah, and managed to win the first one held in Houston. Tracy McGrady had 20 points on 7-21 shooting, and Shane Battier led the team with 22. Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams combined for 61 points for the Jazz.

San Antonio Spurs 85, LA Lakers 106: Well, they didn’t really win the West, but they put themselves in damn good position to do so. The Lakers defense was downright nasty, holding the Spurs to 33-79 shooting from the floor, but take something into consideration: The Spurs didn’t have Manu Ginobli and, as crazy as the guy is, he completely changes that offense. The Lakers put in an all-together team effort, getting 20 from Kobe, 17 from Odom, 14 from Gasol and Fisher, and a combined 21 points from Jordan Farmar and Ronny Turiaf.

Miami Heat 76, Cleveland Cavaliers 84: The Cavs avoided being embarrased. The Heat increased their chances of getting the first pick.

Toronto Raptors 84, Detroit Pistons 91: My feeling here was that the Pistons would actually throw the game, assuring that they would play Philadelphia in the first round and not the Raptors. If you think about it as a coach, who would you rather play? A Raptors team that has some playoff experience as well as a marketable player (Chris Bosh), or the 76′ers, who don’t have any experience, and whose best player’s name you can’t spell (Iguodala)? Chris Bosh scored 30 points and grabbed 10 boards for the Raptors, and Rodney Stuckey led the way for the Pistons with 18 points off the bench.

Houston Rockets 94, Denver Nuggets 111: With this win, the Nuggets are one win away from assuring their spot in the playoffs. The Rockets came out flat, and the Nuggets scored triple digits for the 21st straight game, led by Allen Iverson’s 33 point performance. A Nuggets win or Warriors loss will clinch their bid to the playoffs.