ROCKETS INSIDE LOOK: ROCKETS SIZE UP CHALLENGE TRIP TO LOS ANGELES CAME AS A SURPRISE.

Byline: Billy Witz Staff Writer

There may have been a reason the Houston Rockets didn't appear to be anxious about opening the playoffs against the Lakers. They simply haven't had the time.

It wasn't until late Wednesday night, when Kobe Bryant's long 3-pointer lifted the Lakers to a double-overtime victory over Portland and into the No. 2 seed in the playoffs, that the Rockets knew they were headed to Los Angeles.

``It happened so fast,'' Rockets reserve Eric Piatkowski said Saturday in a locker room filled with all the intensity - and reporters - of his former team, the Clippers. ``It looked for so long that we were playing Minnesota, then it looked like OK, we're playing Sacramento when the Lakers lost up there. We only had two days after Kobe hit that shot to say hey, we're going to L.A.''

Not many people expect them to be here long. The Rockets have scant playoff experience - Yao Ming, Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley were making their playoff debuts - and slumped down the stretch.

Yet, they have a playoff-tested coach in Jeff Van Gundy and appear to be a team built for the playoffs, where the pace slows, and defense and rebounding rules. The Rockets led the NBA in field-goal percentage (41.2 percent) and were second in rebounds allowed.

In the 7-foot-6 Yao, they have somebody who, if he isn't a Shaquille O'Neal stopper, at least has a chance of neutralizing him.

``I don't think anybody matches up great with Shaq, but some teams obviously match up better with him,'' Piatkowski said. ``If Yao can stay out of foul trouble, I think he does just as good a job as anybody does. Having said that, we still have to double-team him and do a lot of things.''

That includes throwing 6-11 Kelvin Cato, 6-10 Scott Padgett and smaller but sturdier forwards Maurice Taylor and Clarence Weatherspoon at him.

``We have a little size,'' Taylor said. ``That's probably why teams say we're a good matchup.''

It's a big reason the Rockets were able to split the season series with the Lakers. Another is that in Francis they have the type of quick-off-the-dribble guard that, like the Spurs' Tony Parker and the Kings' Mike Bibby, has given the Lakers fits - particularly on the pick and roll.

``We basically want to keep the same formula but play that much more intense and play that much more hard,'' Taylor said. ``We have to focus on Kobe and Shaq, just like any other team would and just play sound basketball. We just want to make it as hard as possible for them.''

Billy Witz, [phone]

billy.witz(at)dailynews.com