LA Lakers 81, Dallas 93: Trust issues? Likely suspension for Ron Artest? Another embarrassing series for Pau Gasol? The Lakers shot 2-for-20 on three-pointers and are now in an 0-2 hole and now the series heads to Dallas, where the Mavericks were 29-12 this season. Is this the end of the Kobe Bryant-Pau Gasol run in LA?

Gasol will be the scapegoat – that’s what happens when you go from averaging 22-11 on 56 percent shooting last year in the playoffs to a pathetic 12-8, on 37% this year – but for the time being, Kobe and Phil don’t seem to think the series is over. What do they know?

Kobe scored 23 points, and unlike game one, at least he had a few assists (3). Andrew Bynum was the Lakers’ best player (18 points, 13 rebounds), and it would have made some sense for him to get a few more touches last night instead of letting Lamar Odom (3-for-12). What has happened to this Lakers team that was up by 16 in the third quarter of game one? They haven’t been the same since.

I had to DVR the game last night and watch it this morning, and the one thing I noticed was that the Lakers looked extremely lethargic … kind of like Boston has looked against Miami. The Lakers have been to the finals three years in a row, and they’ve played 66 postseason games in that time; Dallas has played just 17 games. Perhaps 49 more games in that time span has caught up with the Lakers?

I thought it was weak that none of JJ Barea’s teammates stuck up for him after the Artest clothesline. Fortunately, he has a girlfriend to console him.

Chicago 86, Atlanta 73: The Hawks trimmed a 14-point Bulls’ fourth quarter lead to six, then mysteriously went away from Jeff Teague, and Chicago pulled away to win and even the series at one. Derrick Rose accepted his MVP award, then went out and shot 10-for-27. He was clearly pressing (8 turnovers, 1-for-8 from three), but Luol Deng chipped in with a good game (14 points, 12 rebounds, stellar defense on Joe Johnson), and Joakim Noah had a double-double as well (19 points, 14 rebounds).

Serious props for Atlanta’s 2nd year point guard Jeff Teague, who had been considered an afterthought in the stacked 2009 point guard class … until this series. Ballin’ like he did at Wake Forest, Teague was 7-of-14 for a team-high 21 points, and perhaps more importantly, he had 0 turnovers. In the fourth, Teague took advantage of Kyle Korver, but then after he cut the lead to six, Johnson (16 points) forced a bad shot, and Josh Smith missed a 3-pointer as the 24-second shot clock expired.

Back to Rose for a moment. He wasn’t all bad (10 assists), and his defense on Jamal Crawford (2-for-10) was excellent. When the series shifts to Atlanta this weekend, it’ll hinge on how the Bulls defense Johnson and Crawford. If Deng and Rose can keep each of them under 20 and their field goal percentage under 40 (they were a combined 9-of-25 last night), I like Chicago’s chances to win two. I’m glad someone else is for giving Taj Gibson Boozer’s minutes.