Lakers Get Embarrased in Game 4. Well Damn.

I'd be lying if I said I expected the Lakers to play so poorly in Game 4. The shorthanded Rockets were missing Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady [like that matters] but still managed a 29 point lead during the game. Who really saw this coming?? It ended up being a 12 point win for Houston, but it wasn't even that close. Aaron Brooks fucking balled with a career-high 34 points and he even made a couple Lakers look stupid in the process:
So with that being said, why are the Lakers having trouble knocking out the Rockets even without Yao and McGrady?? What is the missing link??  The answer is easy...I know you all know it. The answer is none other than SHAQUILLE O'NEAL. Now, I'm not saying that the Lakers can't win a championship without Shaq, they came close to doing it last year. But it's obviously that it would have been so easy for Kobe x Shaq x Phil to win at least 3-5 more Championships had they stayed together. And by NO WAY am I making this a whole "Kobe ran Shaq out of L.A." conversation. The Kobe fan in me [pause.] wouldn't allow that. I'm just saying...remember the Good Ol' Days.
[Note: Shaq is still in the running for funniest nigga in the league.]
...remember the Good Ol' Days.