OH, LET ME COUNT THE WAYS.

Since the Lakers took control of the series and Houston now has to win another game in Los Angeles to win the series, let's look at the differences between Game 1 and the past two.

-- In Game 1, Aaron Brooks was tremendous. In Games 2 and 3, A.B. more resembled the former Saints quarterback. He did everything wrong but throw a pass to an empty backcourt.

-- In Game 1, Yao was terrific. In Games 2 and 3, eh, not so much. Some credit has to go to the Lakers for this.

-- In Game 1, the Lakes couldn't make a 3-pointer. In Game 3, they made more than half of their attempts.

-- In Game 1, the Los Angeles started Andrew Bynum, allowing Yao to guard a stiff. In Games 2 and 3, Lamar Odom has started, putting Yao on Pau, who has won the battle.

-- In Game 1, you could say Kobe struggled. Don't let his 32 points fool you on that one. In Game 2, Kobe dominated. In Game 3, the Black Mamba was as D said "effective." Plus, the Lakers got the offensive rebound on EIGHT of his misses. I kept this stat myself.

THE TINA CURSING CORNER

My mom got really, really excited Friday morning when we saw a commercial for Fleetwood Mac coming to the N.O. Arena in June. The ad says that American Express card owners can buy tickets before they go on sale. That upset mom. "Oh, fuck. We don't have American Express."

Me: It's not that big of a deal. It's not like we're going to try and get front-row tickets.
Mom: But they can buy tickets first?
Me: Yeah.
Mom: Oh, fuck. That's bullshit.

It's mom's plan to take the cover off the pool Saturday. "I'm waking you up early. We got to do a lot. We got to take it off, we got to fucking wash the cover. All kind of shit."

Mom had a lingering question about The Wrestler. "How do you think it ends after? He can't keep wrestling with a fucking pacemaker."

As Dr. House detoxed off Vicodin, mom says: Fucking detox for everything but nicotine.
Me: The patch.
Mom: That's bullshit.

THE DAILY TOP LIST
My five favorite sports numbers.

5) No. 13
Dan Marino, Wilt Chamberlain, Steve Nash.

4) No. 9
Drew Brees, Ted Williams, Mia Hamm, Roy Hobbs.

3) No. 34
Hakeem Olajuwon, Kerry Wood, Ricky Williams, Charles Barkley, Walter Payton.

2) No. 23
Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Pistol Pete at LSU, Ryne Sandberg, Patrick Surtain, Ronnie Brown.

1) No. 3.
Me, Chris Paul, Babe Ruth, Dwyane Wade, Steve Francis.