--- THE GOOD NEWS FOR ORLANDO ---

The good news for the Orlando Magic is they can play like that again. Perhaps they won't break a Finals record for shooting percentage (62.5%) again, but they can definitely replicate the play that won them game 3.

More good news? Their confidence should be higher having done it already.

Even more good news? The Magic now has more than just theories on how to beat Los Angeles, they have game film they can study, learn from, and improve upon.

--- THE BAD NEWS FOR ORLANDO ---

The bad news for the Orlando Magic is that, even with record-setting shooting, they were only up by 2 points with 0.5 seconds left to go in the game.

More bad news? Kobe Bryant is not likely to choke like that again. It would be presumptuous to credit the Magic's defense for Kobe's poor performance. Kobe has been shooting 90% from the free throw line in the playoffs, and shot just 50% in game 3... it's not like the Magic were defending Bryant as he shot free throws, the guy was off.

Even more bad news? Lamar Odom isn't likely to play that poorly again in game 4 either. As Odom's back injury has gotten better, so has Lamar. Lamar Odom averaged 19.5 points and 11 rebounds in the last two games of the Western Conference finals against Denver, and averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds in the first two games of the Finals.

--- LOOKING TO GAME 4 ---

Even if the Magic are able to play another game like their record setting game 3, and even if the Lakers make no adjustments to their game plan, the Lakers are likely to win just by having Kobe and Lamar playing up to par, but it would also be nice if:

(1) The Lakers did a better job rebounding the ball. It's one thing for a team to shoot 62.5 percent, it's another thing to give them additional shots at that high percentage by failing to grab rebounds.

(2) Get the ball to Gasol. Yes, the Magic shot a record breaking 62.5 percent in game 3, but that also happens to be Gasol's shooting percentage for the entire series. Well, okay, Pau is just shooting 62.1 percent, but Gasol is the ultimate team player: if he doesn't have a shot he'll pass it back out, but at least give him touches.

(3) Quit making such a deal about Kobe coming down with a temporary case of mortality; Jordan didn't always come through for the Bulls either. The other Lakers need to step their games up -- or at least play all the minutes they are on the floor.

For some perspective, Andrew Bynum is in the first year of a $58 million contract. Magic Johnson made $46 million over the course of his entire career.

It's high time these guys stopped making excuses and started making plays -- on both ends of the court. No one feels sorry for you, so stop your whining and get to work.

You think it's bad how much business executives are getting paid for their substandard performance... either these NBA role players better start earning their money, or start cutting us fans some rebate checks... cause there is no way their pay reflects their value when compared to the likes of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. 

Just because they are in a different era doesn't mean they are ENTITLED, it means they have an added obligation to bring value, and bring it on both ends of the court and frankly on the bench by keeping your head and heart in the game.

Kobe is beat. He went from carrying a team into the 2008 playoffs, to playing deep into the Finals, to going to TeamUSA and shocking the world's best with his work ethic, to carrying the Lakers through a 65 win season, and has endured an especially physical playoff run to the 2009 NBA Finals. He is going to be injured if the Lakers aren't careful. It's time to talk to those role players and get them to magnify their roles, particularly in the first half.

--- STILL SIGNS OF LAKERS A.D.D. ---

By the way, for the 2nd game in a row, the Lakers gave up over 30 points for just 1 quarter. They really need to play all 48 minutes and quit taking spells off. 

--- SPEAKING OF STEALING PAYCHECKS... ---

There is NO WAY the refs would let Kobe Bryant defend Courtney Lee as physically as they are letting Lee defend Kobe. I'm tired of the pathetic officiating in the NBA; they are an embarrassment to all professional sports.

Yes, this is a hard game to officiate, but as long as David Stern's goons insist on FINING those who discuss officiating, rather than FINDING ways to improve it, all they'll do is draw increased headlines to the problem.

There are real things that can be done that aren't even being tried, which begs the question: why doesn't the NBA want to improve it? Would it make officiating harder for them to tilt?

--- THE BOTTOM LINE ---

The Lakers have taken the best the Magic had to give, and measured up so closely that it seems likely that the parade will be in Disneyland this year, not Disney World.

--- NBA FINALS WORST TO NBA FINALS BEST?! ---

The Magic went from shooting 29.9% in game 1, to setting an NBA Finals record for shooting percentage in a half (75%), and an NBA Finals record for best shooting percentage for a game (62.5%).

Normally, when a team shoots THIS well, it is because they got a lot of inside shots and transition points, but not so this game with the Orlando Magic.

--- LAKERS WIN POINTS IN THE PAINT AGAIN ---

The Lakers actually had more points in the paint than the Magic (40 to 36), and both teams had 10 fast break points.

So how did the Magic shoot so well?

The Magic were just SO ACTIVE physically, while mentally they PATIENTLY created scoring opportunities for themselves as a team.

Nothing was rushed, but everything was quick and aggressive.

--- MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT PACE ---

Contrary to what some are writing, the Orlando Magic did NOT speed up the pace of game 3 of the 2009 NBA Finals. In fact, statistically it can be proven that Game 3 of the 2009 NBA Finals had the slowest pace of all three Finals games so far for the Orlando Magic (1.33 shots per minute).

The game SEEMED faster because the Magic, energized by their home crowd, played with far greater energy and activity than they did in previous games against the Lakers, moving both the ball and their feet better than ever, but this was not D'Antoni's Phoenix Suns in their prime -- the pace of this game was not faster than the previous two Finals games.

Game 1:
Magic = 77 shots (1.6 shots per minute)
Lakers = 89 shots (1.85 shots per minute)
Game Pace = 3.46 shots per minute

Game 2: (overtime)
Magic = 79 (1.52 shots per minute)
Lakers = 78 (1.63 shots per minute)
Game Pace = 2.96 shots per minute

Game 3:
Magic = 64 (1.33 shots per minute)
Lakers = 78 (1.63 shots per minute)
Game Pace = 2.96 shots per minute

So, how did the Orlando Magic do it?

--- ORLANDO'S TEAM WORK FACTOR ---

Look at ball movement. The Magic had more assists in game 3 than the other games, but more telling is their assists to shot attempts ratio:

Orlando Magic's Assists to Shot Attempts ratio:
Game 1 = .13
Game 2 = .28
Game 3 = .36

Admittedly, this is a squirrely indicator of ball movement, but short of rewatching all 3 games and counting the passes and calculating the passes per minute (and perhaps per possession), it's the best we've got readily available.

--- PROACTIVE VS. REACTIVE ---

The Magic got the ball down court quickly, even after made baskets, forcing the Lakers' defense to react (and in many cases over react). As Orlando countered the Lakers reactions, the Magic found themselves playing most of the game in proactive mode and Lakers in reactive mode. The Lakers played back on their heels, scrambling from one person and one spot to another, sometimes successfully getting a stop, not usually.

The Magic's shooting percentage was the fruit of aggressive ball and people movement which fed Orlando's confidence and put the Lakers back on their heels, then Orlando got into a groove and did not let up on doing what was working.

That doesn't explain ALL of that success though. Post game, Stan Van Gundy said, "Our ball movement was good, but I don't care how good your ball movement is and the quality of shot you get, uou're not going to put the ball in the basket at that rate very often. But it's one of those nights, thankfully, that a lot of shots went down."

--- ORLANDO GIVES UP ITS INFATUATION WITH THE 3 BALL ---

Also, look at the following statistics carefully:

o 71% of the Magic's shots were jump shots in game 1.
o 70% of the Magic's shots were jump shots in game 2.
o 77% of the Magic's shots were jump shots in game 3.

o The Magic shot 23 3-pointers in game 1.
o The Magic shot 30 3-pointers in game 2.
o The Magic shot 14 3-pointers in game 3.

That's another reason Orlando's shooting percentage was better: they shot more midrange jumpers and less 3-pointers.

That happens to be what Larry Brown's Detroit Pistons did when they won the NBA Finals.

Ten Observations about game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals:

(1) The Orlando Magic blew TWO layups / opportunities to win in the last 12 seconds of regulation

While everyone is talking about Courtney Lee missing the layup with 0.6 left in regulation, we ought to be talking about the fact that Courtney Lee missed a lay up just 12 seconds earlier as well. Had Lee made the 1st layup, with Kobe's subsequent shot getting blocked, the Magic would not have even needed that last play; they would have won in regulation.

(2) The Lakers' defensive impact this game is underrated

The Magic averaged 107.5 points per game against the Lakers in the regular season, and were held to 75 points in game 1, and 88 points at the end of regulation in game 2. This is NOT due to jitters or off shooting nights; Stan Van Gundy has now TWICE credited the Lakers defense.

The main problem, defensively speaking, for the Lakers was the 3rd quarter where they gave up 30 of the Magic's 88 points in regulation. Judging by the points scored in the other quarters, had the Lakers not let up their defensive intensity in the 3rd quarter, they would have won in regulation by 7 to 12 points.

There are hundreds of examples that bear up this point, including the 20 turnovers the Magic had, and the fact that Pau Gasol's hustle over to alter Courney Lee's shot with 0.6 remaining in regulation was the play of the game.

After game 2, Dwight Howard said this of the Lakers' defense, "They are mixing it up and changing things and it is frustrating me a little bit."

(3) Derek Fisher's contribution this game is likewise underrated

Fisher had been averaging about 27 minutes per game in the 2009 playoffs, but played 41 minutes against Orlando in game 2. Subtract 5 minutes to account for overtime, which isn't fair because Phil Jackson chose Fisher to be on the floor for crunch time, and Fisher still logged 36 minutes. Fisher was on the floor because he was solid offensively (12 points, 2 of 3 from the arc), but his real contribution was defense.

Rafer Alston was 1 of 8, Jameer Nelson was 1 of 3, JJ Redic was 2 of 9, and Courtney Lee was 1 of 3.

(4) Turnovers washed out the Magic's Rebound advantage

Prior to game 1, Derek Fisher said, "Our ability to rebound the basketball could really be the difference in this series." He is right; in this series the rebounding factor is huge.

In game 1, the Lakers were +15 in rebounds, and won by 25 points.

In game 2, the Lakers were -11 in rebounds and needed an overtime (not to mention luck) to squeak by in overtime.

What kept the Lakers alive was their defense. In game 1, the Magic had 8 turnovers. In game 2, the Magic had 9 turnovers by the end of the first quarter and 20 by the end of the game.

In a nutshell, while the Lakers were -11 in rebounds in game 2, the Magic turned it over 12 more times than they did in game 1, which pretty much negated the Magic's rebound advantage.

(5) Stan Van Gundy had his moments, both great and questionable

At the end of game 1, Stan Van Gundy said, "I think that we've got to look at playing a little bit bigger."

During the 1st quarter, Van Gundy played J.J. Redick at the point, and played his 2 centers at the same time: Marcin Gortat and Dwight Howard.

When Doris Burke asked Van Gundy about the double center lineup in his interview between the 1st and 2nd quarters, Van Gundy confessed that they had planned to do that, but were forced into it earlier than they wanted to due to foul trouble.

With the Magic's point guards playing so poorly, every Lakers' fan should be glad Van Gundy forgot to use this combination again, particularly during the overtime. This double center combination, with Hedo Turkoglu handling the ball on offense and guarding Kobe on defense, could really mess with the Lakers, particularly if the Magic uses it when Bynum is on the bench.

Gortat is a capable enough center to start on most NBA teams (in fact, the Lakers should trade Bynum and pick up Gortat as a free agent next year), and with Dwight Howard at power forward the Magic could establish a power game inside for spurts that the Lakers couldn't do much about.

(6) The Lakers still need to learn to play right for all 48 minutes

The Lakers opened up the game with 2 bad (and long) jump shots. The Magic opened with layups.

Then, to start the 3rd quarter, the Magic took it inside to erase the Laker lead with layups and free throws, while the Lakers began the 3rd quarter with long jumpers again.

And defensively, the Lakers were lax in the 3rd quarter as well, giving up 30 points that quarter after holding the Magic to 35 points total for the 2 previous quarters.

The Lakers keep backsliding into thinking they are good enough to beat teams despite their bad habits, rather than ridding themselves of the bad habits.

The Lakers repented though, and held the Magic to 23 points in the 4th quarter, forcing an overtime.

(7) Hedo Turkoglu defended Kobe Bryant well.

Unlike Shane Battier's face guarding, and Carmelo Anthony's physical wearing down of Kobe, Turkoglu likes to bump Kobe as he gathers for his shot then Hedo backs off hard and uses his length to challenge Kobe's off-balance shot. The refs were letting Hedo bump Bryant, and it was working as well as anything else has to slow down Bryant.

(8) In overtime, both the Lakers and the Magic played as they did in game 1

In overtime, the Lakers took their game inside: 9 of the Lakers 13 points in overtime were free throws. Of the remaining 4 points, 2 were by a layup, and 2 were from a Kobe Bryant jumper.

By contrast, the Orlando Magic only attempted 1 shot in the paint, and missed 4 of their 5 outside shots.

As Rashard Lewis said at the end of game 1, you can't win that way.

(9) The Lakers quit trying to score inside

In game 1, 39% of all the Lakers shots were layups.

In game 2, 19% of all the Lakers shots were layups.

(10) Orlando's offense didn't adjust as much as you'd think

In game 1, 26% of all Orlando's shots were layups.

In game 2, 29% of all Orlando's shots were layups.

EDIT:

(11) The Lakers struggle to score when they don't move the ball, and when they don't rebound.

The Magic have already shown what they can do to a team that gets most of its points from just 1 person. The Orlando Magic have the best defense in basketball right now, so the Lakers need to move the defense by moving the ball. And as for rebounds...

The Lakers were +15 in rebounds in game 1, and -11 in rebounds in game 2. That is a 26 rebound swing!

The Lakers need rebounds to help them score.

On the offensive glass, rebounds allow them to get the ball into an inside scoring position without having to run an offense to get the ball there. This allows the Lakers easier, high percentage baskets, and often sends them to the free throw line for additoinal free points.

On the defensive glass, rebounds allow the Lakers to run out for easier, high percentage, early offense baskets. After a score, the Magic run down and get their defense set before the Lakers can bring the ball down, but after a missed basket, the Lakers can get the ball down more quickly and attack whatever partially set defense awaits them.

Also, rebounds (both offenive and defensive) limits the Magic's shot attempts, and increases the Lakers' shot attempts. I'm glad the Lakers are playing more consistent defense now, but the Lakers still need to really make rebounding a priority again.

panacea [pan-a-see-a]

Noun a remedy for all diseases or problems [Greek pan- all + akes remedy]

There is a lot of talk about Courtney Lee missing that final shot in regulation of game 2 of the 2009 NBA Finals, but look at that shot in context:

(1) Courtney Lee had just missed a wide open layup less than 12 seconds earlier, which is how the Lakers ended up with the ball and 9.1 seconds left in regulation to begin with. Courtney Lee took advantage of a screen by Rashard Lewis to shed off Kobe Bryant and Lee drove right to rim. Pau Gasol rotated hard to stop Lee, but lost his balance and fell to the floor, giving Lee an open layup which he shot too hard and it bounced off the back of the rim.

Had Courtney Lee made that first layup, the Magic would likely have won.

(2) Upon rebounding Lee's miss, the Lakers called time out and opted to bring the ball up the length of the court to assure they could get the ball in without burning another time out. Lamar Odom got the in bounds pass to Pau Gasol, then cut hard to Pau and took the pass back, crossed the time line and passed off to Kobe Bryant.

(3) You can talk about Hedo Turkoglu's great defense if you want when he blocked Kobe's shot attempt, but it is awfully easy to come up with a defensive play when you surround the ball handler 4 on 1. And looking at the slow motion replays, it is obvious that had Turkoglu not blocked Kobe's shot, Dwight Howard would have.

It was just a dumb decision by Kobe.

Kobe literally attempted that shot against 4 Magic defenders, including the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, and did not even look to any of his 3 totally wide open teammates to make that last shot. Literally, the ONLY Orlando Magic player to not swarm Bryant was Courtney Lee, who fronted Gasol right at the rim.

I'm hoping that this boneheaded decision is why Kobe was so mad when he went to the bench at the end of regulation, but I have my doubts.

What happened next is a credit to both Hedo Turkoglu and Stan Van Gundy, especially Van Gundy, who showed NO signs of panic this game.

Orlando had the ball, 0.6 seconds to do something with it, and a ton of time outs left.

Watch Turkoglu carefully, he took the ball from the ref, pinned it between his ARM and his left side, and just watched his teammates run and the defense react, then called for another time out.

Clearly Turkoglu NEVER intended to inbounds the ball on that first attempt; if he did, he must have thought his left butt cheek was going to make the pass for him because, unlike Turkoglu's next inbounds attempt where he held the ball with both hands above his head, Turkoglu never even tried to take the ball from his hip.

That first "inbounds play" was all about watching how the Laker defense would play the Orlando Magic from that position on the court.

When that final play in regulation unfolded, I was so amazed that I paused it and yelled for the wife and kids to come check it out. I played it again and again pointing out how brilliant it was.

Van Gundy ran the play for a rookie, and not just any rookie, but a rookie who had only attempted 3 shots all game, who had only made one shot all game... and was being guarded by perennial first team all defense member Kobe Bryant!

That is the LAST thing I thought the Magic would do, and clearly it was the last thing the Lakers thought they would do either, because it worked to near perfection.

I perfect pick shed Kobe from Lee 16 feet away from the basket. Pau Gasol made a correct read and rotated hard to pick up Lee, and that defensive effort is probably what saved the game for the Lakers... it forced Lee to shoot the lay up high enough to clear Gasol, making it too high to go in.

Had Pau Gasol not made that effort and rotated to Courney Lee as the ball was still in the air, the layup simply would have been too simple to miss.

If you are tempted to whine that Gasol's contact with the rim on the shot was goal tending, it wasn't and here is a link to the NBA rule book so you can check for yourself. Now Dwight Howard coming up through the hoop to block Gasol's dunk in the second quarter... THAT was goal tending! It is ASTONISHING the refs didn't make that call, but that's a tangent.

After the game, Courtney Lee confirmed that the play was drawn up for him all along.

"Honestly, it was just a brilliant play," said Kobe Bryant after the game with genuine admiration in his voice. "It was just a very, very smart play that he drew up. He knew my eye was more on the shooters coming up, and it was just a hell of a play by a hell of a coach."

I couldn't agree more, and it is high time we came up with a better nick name for Stan Van Gundy. Suggetions?

It's Disney World verses Disney Land...

--- MONSTERS, INC. ---

Orlando is 35-7 when they lead their opponents in rebounding.

Orlando is 42-4 when they score more than 100 points.

What is more, during their regular season match ups the Magic averaged 107.5 points per game and shot 46.5 percent against the Lakers.

Clearly, this isn't the regular season.

--- RETURN TO NEVERLAND ---

Phil Jackson had his Lakers far more prepared for the Orlando Magic than Stan Van Gundy had his Magic prepared for the Lakers.

The Lakers out rebounded the Magic 64 to 49.

And astonishingly, the Lakers held Orlando to exactly 75 points in game one. From 107.5 points per game, to 75?! That's a 32.5 point difference!

--- FANTASIA ---

Orlando's all star center, Dwight Howard had this explanation, "We've never had a shooting night this bad. We've just got to come out and play a lot harder than we did tonight."

Uh, okay.

If one person shot poorly, he could have bad night. However, if an entire team shoots poorly, the odds are against the possibility that 8 to 14 different professional basketball players all had a random off night shooting on precisely the same night... there is a REASON why 8 guys from the same team shoot poorly, and usually that reason is the defense of the opposing team.

--- AN EXTREMELY GOOFY MOVIE ---

Also, people have WRONGLY attributed the Magic's poor showing to jitters. That makes no sense. The Magic started off very strong and led after the first quarter 24 to 22. In fact, the Magic played as if they truly believed they could come steal game 1 the way they did at Cleveland in their previous series. It was the play of the Lakers as they began to assert their will that undid the Magic.

Jitters had nothing to do with Orlando's poor performance and Rashard Lewis said so after the game, "There was no stage fright at all. Look, they scored 56 points in the paint, that's more than half. You can't win ballgames like that."

Exactly.

--- NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS ---

The Magic had 22 points in the paint, but only 4 of those points came in the second half. Another 4 points in the paint came in the second quarter, leaving 16 of the points in the paint coming in the 1st quarter. The Magic were forced (or should I say "lured") into shooting outside by the Lakers' defense. Want more proof? In the first quarter, the Magic had attempted only 2 three-pointers, then went the rest of the game averaging 7 three-pointers per quarter.

The Lakers baited the Magic into the 3-ball, then contested it to make it a low percentage shot. Nevertheless, while everyone is talking about how poorly the Magic shot from the arc (35%), still the Magic actually shot the 3-ball better than the Lakers (33%).

--- THE FOX AND THE HOUND ---

The difference is Lakers coach, Phil Jackson, seemed to know while the game was in progress what was working and what wasn't, and directed his team toward its strengths. The Lakers only attempted 9 three pointers, while scoring 56 points in the paint.

Phil Jackson's game plan was excellent, and excellently executed.

--- OLD YELLER ---

Stan Van Gundy, by contrast, seem to have no idea why his Magic were being beaten so badly. His sound bites contained no counsel about shot selection, scoring in the paint, etc. Instead, he kept exhorting his team to keep trying and not give up. Sorry, Van Gundy, but motivational guru Tony Robbins could have told them that, and told them much better than you did. They needed a coach, but Van Gundy was just as shell shocked as his players and had nothing.

--- REMEMBER THE TITANS ---

Defensive player of the year, Dwight Howard, is supposed to be a deterrent for players who want to score inside, but the Lakers clearly made their living, and frankly a mockery of Dwight Howard and what was the highest rated defense during the regular season.

And offensively, the Magic shot 5 of 19 on layups, 16 of 54 on jumpers, and were 2 of 3 on dunks.

--- THE APPLE DUMPLING GANG ---

Rashard Lewis was 2 of 4 from the arc, however he was 0 of 2 on layups, 2 of 8 on jump shots, and 2 of 10 overall.

Hedo Turkoglu shot 3 of 11 and 1 of 3 from the arc (and had 4 of the Magic's 8 turnovers).

Rafer Alston shot 1 of 7 on jumpers (including 0 of 4 from the arc) and was 1 of 2 on layups.

Jameer Nelson was 3 of 9 on jumpers and attempted 0 layups.

--- DOUBLE TEAMED ---

But very telling are the stats for Dwight Howard's shooting: he had 12 points and 10 of them were from the free throw line! Howard was 0 of 4 inside and 1 of 2 shooting jumpers.

--- THE CHEETAH GIRLS ---

A quick word about the three NBA officials in game 1. Here we have the Magic trying to win by hucking up 3s under pressure, and yet for all their outside shots the Magic enjoyed a whopping 18 to 29 free throw advantage. With a disparity like that favoring a jump shooting team, you would have thought the Magic was the home team. Kobe Bryant in particular, but Gasol as well, were being hacked like a victim in a cheesy horror movie and the refs would flat not give him the calls. They appeared to be reacting to the backlash of favorable treatment LeBron seemed to get against the Magic last series.

--- HOLES ---

So far in the playoffs, when the Magic have been on the road they have averaged 46% shooting on the opposition's home floor, and 39.1% from the arc. And in the playoffs, the Magic average 47.5% shooting when they win, 43% when they lose.

Against the Lakers in game 1 of the NBA Finals though, the Magic shot 29.9%.

The Magic shot poorly because their shot selection was poor, and their shot selection was poor because the Lakers defense encouraged it, and the Magic coaching staff were oblivious.

--- GET A CLUE ---

For game 2, the Orlando Magic may well be considering the following adjustments.

o Courtney Lee may be replaced in the starting line up. Why not? He didn't really contribute much offensively (3 of 10 for 7 points), and Kobe used him like a rental car, particularly in the paint.

o Probe the Lakers' interior defense with more dribble penetration. The Lakers have demonstrated difficulty stopping quick guards in the recent past, and if Alston and Nelson can drive, they will either get inside shot attempts, draw fouls on Lakers defenders, or bring help defenders freeing up Dwight Howard (or a cutting Turkoglu or Lewis) to score on lobs and shuffle passes.

o Tweak their pick and role to free up (or set up mismatches) for perimeter shots. This will spread the floor, stretch the Lakers defense and send Orlando into their game.

o Get more physical with their defense as the Denver Thuggets did.

o The Magic had only 3 shots in the paint in the defining 3rd quarter. What is more, Stan Van Gundy clearly did not know how his team was being beat, consequently he made no in-game adjustments. Next game, they may well have an assistant coach hotly monitoring the shot chart.

o And perhaps Pietrus ought to go back to wearing Kobe's shoes. It couldn't hurt.

As for the Lakers...

--- WHISTLE WHILE YOU WORK ---

o Playing basketball is a lot like shaving: no matter how good of a job you did today, you've got to go out and do it all again tomorrow. The Lakers first and foremost cannot allow themselves to relax or be complacent; the Magic isn't just going to roll over and play dead for the Lakers, all 12 Lakers, and their coaching staff, needs to bring that effort all over again in game 2.

o Kobe had LeBron-like numbers: 40 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, however the Lakers succeeded where LeBron couldn't because the Lakers as a team held the Magic to just 75 points, something the Cavs, or anyone else for that matter, couldn't ever do. If the Lakers expect to hold home court Sunday, they will need to repeat their defensive effort, tweaking the game plan to counter Orlando's adjustments.

--- HERBY FULLY LOADED ---

o As goes Lamar Odom, so go the Los Angeles Lakers. Odom's size, speed and agility make him a formidible perimeter defender against 6'10" Turkoglu and 6'10" Lewis, yet Odom's size and strength make him a great post defender when Bynum is out, particular when Odom is working on fronting Howard to deny the entry pass. What is more, Odom is a hungry and skilled rebounder. The Lakers have no other player who can do what Lamar Odom does as well as Lamar can do it. Odom has to show up big for every game.

--- IRON WILL ---

o The Lakers were +15 in rebounds in game 1. That means the Lakers had roughly 15 more shot attempts than they otherwise would have, and denied the Magic roughly 15 attempts to score. Also, the Magic have a system which scores on the "early offense" before the Lakers can fully set up its defense of long players to bother the Magic. Controlling the boards prevents the Magic from taking advantage of that early offense.

--- HOUNDED ---

o During the playoffs, the Orlando Magic averages 100.5 points per game when it wins, and 92.5 points per game when it loses. The Lakers need to know then, that they can only give up about 23 points per quarter to be reasonably sure they'll win, and knowing that, play consistent defense all game long.

--- THE YOUNG BLACK STALLION ---

o For once officiating was not an issue, other than the no calls on Kobe and Pau, but you wouldn't know it watching Andrew Bynum. He lifts his hands in protest every time he makes a mistake, regardless whether officiating played a role. It was GREAT to see Andrew Bynum play hard, and I'm sure the Lakers were glad Bynum gave a good effort from the get go, but in addition to the effort, Bynum needs to toughen up mentally as well.

--- RACE TO WITCH MOUNTAIN ---

o The 4th quarter was the Lakers' worst quarter offensively speaking, which isn't good news, and which explains why the Lakers had 4 starters on the floor during "garbage time" in the 4th quarter (Bryant, Gasol, Bynum, Fisher and then Luke Walton from the bench). It appears Phil didn't want to give the Magic confidence for future games by letting them think the Lakers would give up big leads and let them back in games. Good move.

--- THE THREE CABALLEROS ---

o It would be nice to see Shannon Brown, Trevor Ariza and to a lesser degree Jordan Farmar expand their roles as spot up shooters and use their speed and athleticism to drive deep into the paint when they are run off the arc to see if they can draw fouls on Dwight Howard as he steps in to help. They could also drive and dish to another player and create problems. However, that may mess up something else Jackson has going, I don't know.

At any rate, by dominating the Magic as they did in game 1, the Lakers are in the driver's seat for 3 reasons.

--- INVINCIBLE ---

(1) The Lakers have taken pressure off of themselves and put it on the Orlando Magic to prove they even belong in this series.

--- BEDTIME STORIES ---

(2) The Lakers have forced the Magic to adjust their game plan, adjustments which the Lakers can anticipate and counter.

--- CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE DRAMA QUEEN ---

(3) The Lakers have proved to THEMSELVES that they have the coaching staff and personnel to take care of business, provided both groups give their full effort.

--- FLUBBER ---

Yes, the Orlando Magic are a resilient team and have bounced back before in the playoffs, but teams, like basketballs, have a hard time bouncing when they are flat. The Lakers defense, rebounding, and offensive agressiveness might just flatten the Magic again.