the rockets were one of the best teams in the league at home (33-8), but two of those losses were to the lakers (0-4 on the season series). as much as the intensity of game 2 fired up the lakers, i think it will do the same to the rockets. fisher out will hurt the lakers, but like hanmu said, farmar and brown have played well. i think the difference is yao. i think he stays out of foul trouble and goes for 25 and 15.
i agree that house won't score 30, but pierce is due to take over a game in that series. alston being out will hurt the magic. if they can get howard into the groove early, and hit some outside shots, they'll have a chance. if not, it could get ugly.