The Rockets spent 48 hours reminding themselves that the Lakers wouldn't pull a second straight no-show. They said all the right things about being ready.

The Lakers hit them anyway, relentlessly, endlessly, from start to finish, and the Rockets were blown out 118-78 on Tuesday night in Game 5.

Kobe Bryant took over early - controlling the tempo, making plays, forcing mistakes - and everything was easy after that.

If you're squeamish, don't read this paragraph. The Lakers had sprinted to a 25-point halftime lead and stretched it to (gulp) 42 before it finally ended.

Now the Rockets are up against it, pushed to the edge, fighting to avoid elimination Thursday in Game 6.

Running out of time

After everything this team has been through, after all the injuries and makeovers and all the rest, they've run out of time.

Nothing that happens now can taint all they've survived, all they've accomplished. Still, Game 5 was an embarrassment.

The offense that had flowed so smoothly on Sunday was an avalanche of turnovers and missed shots. Ron Artest was awful, throwing up bad shots, stopping the offense, turning it over.

Without Yao, the Rockets are dependent on jump shots, and there are going to be nights those shots don't fall. Artest had one of those nights.

Anyone that thought the Rockets would be better off without Yao was reminded otherwise. The Rockets shot 33 percent for the night, making just 5-of-29 3-pointers.

Without Yao, they were forced to keep firing and keep firing they did. Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks, who'd led the way on Sunday, were 6-of-18.

And when Chuck Hayes got into early foul trouble, Rick Adelman had no good options to counter the size of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum.

Give the Lakers credit for gathering themselves. Bryant took over early and scored 26 points in just 31 minutes.

His supporting cast did its job, too, and the Lakers were in complete control after about the midway point of the first quarter.

So much for our little feel-good stories. And just when things had been going swimmingly.

But hey, if the President of the United States wants on the bandwagon, I say we let him on.

"Let's just say I have friends in high places," Shane Battier said Tuesday morning.

He received the following text message after the Rockets stunned the Lakers in Game 4: The president was watching and thought you did a good job leading the guys and facing adversity.

It came from Reggie Love, who was Battier's teammate at Duke and is now President Obama's personal assistant. Next thing you know, Charles Barkley will say something nice about the Rockets .

Changes in L.A.

Anyway, it's not everyday you find somebody with a direct line to the White House, and I wondered what I could get out of it.

"You need something?" Battier asked. "You got a problem? Say the word."

I motioned toward an annoying TV guy.

"I know people that know people," Battier said.

I told him I wasn't sure he could trust the president since he sure seemed awfully happy to see the North Carolina Tar Heels at the White House this week.

"That was all business," Battier said. "That was not personal. It's not like he called Roy Williams and said, 'Come hang out at the White House.' That's part of the job.

"He probably ordered extra Secret Service people to keep an eye on them until they left. Never trust a Tar Heel."

Some of us wondered how winning Game 4 ultimately would change the Rockets .

Maybe it didn't change them, and they were unable to match the speed or flow of Lakers on Tuesday. Defensively, the Rockets simply were taken apart.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson had considered going to a small lineup to counter the Rockets' speed.

Instead, he went big, and Bynum and Gasol dominated the paint area. Hayes picked up two fouls in the first six minutes, and the Rockets had no one capable of playing defense against a big player.

They might have made up for it with more flow in their offense, but with the shots not falling and Artest all over the place, they never made it interesting.

This was the game some might have feared in Game 4. The Rockets stunned the world in that one, and now they'll have to do it again Thursday to keep their season going.

richard.justice@chron.com