This seemed to inspire Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, who took time out from scoring 40 points to place an elbow in Artest's throat during an ensuing rebound battle.

When a foul was called on Artest, the man who went into the stands intending to throttle a few Pistons fans in a Detroit suburb few years ago made a beeline for Kobe. After issuing a nose-to-nose reminder that elbowing him was risky, Artest continued talking his way into an ejection. (Upon further review, Bryant was assessed a flagrant 1 foul by the NBA the next day.)

The Bryant-Artest intersection occurred largely because the 6-foot-7, 250-pound Artest had been manhandling designated Lakers wing defender Trevor Ariza. With Ariza lacking the bulk or grit to prevent Artest from backing him down on the post, Ron was threatening to bull Houston to a 2-0 series lead over the Western Conference's spotlight team.

During a second-quarter run, Lakers coach Phil Jackson responded to Ariza's inability to check Artest by sending a second defender on the pass. This quick-double strategy was repeatedly burned when Artest immediately coughed up the ball and a teammate — Carl Landry was the prime beneficiary — knocked in an uncontested shot.

Jackson's third-quarter tactics included keeping Ariza on Artest and adjusting the double team to arrive whenever Artest put the ball on the floor. That didn't work very well, either, so the double team was scrapped at the start of the fourth quarter and Luke Walton began the period guarding Artest solo.

Even though this defensive matchup seems like a nightmare for Laker fans, Artest — who began the fourth with 25 points — was unable to overpower Walton. To put it simply, Bill's bouncing baby boy has more junk in his trunk than Ariza. And, with teammates providing gap-and-help protection against the drive, the slower Walton was able to keep Artest scoreless until Bryant returned from a breather with about 10 minutes left to play.

Saving Bryant's strength, moxie and competitive fire for a fourth-quarter lock-down on Artest probably was the plan all along, but we really weren't treated to much of a one-on-one showdown. Kobe went to Artest's throat with an elbow on the second possession after they squared off.

When Artest was called for a foul in that battle, it seemed apparent — at least to Artest — the referees were missing a golden opportunity to make Bryant behave. So Ron took matters into his own hands — figuratively speaking — and approached Kobe with an offer of sage advice.

Bryant, who honored some untimely Artest trash talk by putting 18 fourth-quarter points on the established defensive-stopper during a late-regular-season game, said this run-in was nothing more than what happens during playoff basketball.

When asked if the impetus for an even more contentious series had been unleashed, Artest made a fine point.

"We've already been playing physical," he said. "How much more physical can it get?"

So, now that he's hit nothing but the nail on the head, should we expect an encore appearance of Crazy Ron?

Well, with history as our guide, it should be noted that we never should pretend to know what to expect from Ron Artest.

And, with playoff basketball as our touchstone for sideways behavior, we don't even know what to expect from Derek Fisher.