Michael Ventre

LOS ANGELES - Kobe Bryant called his team “bipolar,” but at least there are treatments for that. What the Lakers suffer from seems to be far more baffling, and so far the only known medication is home cooking.

Yet Sunday was a good day on their mood swivel. They dispensed with the virulently pesky Houston Rockets, 89-70, at Staples Center in a Game 7 that was a cliffhanger only if the cliff in question is about five feet high. By jumping on them early and routing the Rockets in the deciding game, the Lakers advanced to the NBA’s Western Conference finals and a date with the Denver Nuggets, a team on the rise in the estimation of many who do these types of estimations.

What to make of these Lakers? Mark Jackson, the former NBA guard working as a television analyst, declared the other day that he was through picking the Lakers to win, and although this surely came as manna to those who had been poised to bet the ranch on his opinion, the sentiment did seem to strike a chord with the general hoops populace.

The Lakers have been stuck in a soar-and-plummet pattern, and at this point — after struggling to dispatch a team that lost Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo, and that has a roster with enough kids to qualify for a federal lunch program — it’s unclear what kind of a club Los Angeles will offer up the next time out.

Bryant, who had a tepid game for him Sunday with 14 points, said part of the problem was the public’s unwillingness to give the Rockets credit. “It’s not like we can just flip a switch and dominate,” he explained. “It’s not that simple.”

But he also acknowledged that the Lakers could do better in the effort department, and said the experience of being pushed to the limit can only help in their journey toward a title. “It’s good experience to play in an elimination game and go through the see-saw nature of a series,” he said. “It helps a team come together.”

Slideshow   NBA playoffs Take a look at photos from the playoffs, including the Magic finishing off LeBron and the Cavs in Game 6. more photos

On Sunday, the Lakers came out aggressively after the opening tip and led, 17-4, with 3:51 left. They led by 20 at intermission, by 19 after three periods and by as many as 31 in the fourth. It was eerily similar to the knockout they administered at Game 5, also at Staples, yet also reminded many of the quick pummeling Houston unleashed against L.A. in Games 4 and 6.

Maybe it can be said that the Rockets are bipolar, too, except they were undermanned and undersized, whereas the Lakers were the popular pick going into the season, and going into the playoffs, to win it all.

“Going into Game 7,” said Houston’s Shane Battier, “we knew they were going to give us their best shot, and to be honest we didn’t have the energy.”

The Lakers are supposed to be championship caliber this year because they’re allegedly improved. Sometimes it’s apparent, sometimes it isn’t. On Sunday, improvement had a name: Andrew Bynum.

Yes, it’s true, Pau Gasol was magnificent. But he’s supposed to be. In 40 minutes of Game 7, Gasol had 21 points, 18 rebounds and three blocks. He was relentless in the middle. “I was just proud of the way he played,” Bryant said of Gasol. “He answered the challenge and played like one of the best players in the world.”