We won’t shoot this bad again. They won’t look this good again. Just move on, lots of basketball to be played still.

…even though it was by 25 points.

The Lakers deserve credit for playing well both offensively and defensively, but whoever would have thought that Turk, Lewis, and D12 would combine for a grand total of six field goals the whole game, or that the Magic starters would shoot under 25%.

Magic Johnson pointed out on SportsCenter that his 1985 Lakers squad lost Game 1 of the Finals by over 30 points at Boston, yet came back to win the series.

I expect a completely different Magic team in Game 2.

Obviously, our three main weapons putting up a sucktacular 6-27 from the field hurts more, but when Mickael Pietrus and Rafer Alston, our two streakiest, dodgiest shooters are taking 22 shots, 9 from three point land, it’s no wonder we were blown out.

Check out these eye-watering +/- numbers:

-23 when Pietrus was on the floor
-26 when Lewis was on the floor
-19 when Dwight was on the floor (to go with his 6FGA, that’s a terrible performance by him and the rest of the team) and also -19 when Jameer was in
-20 when Turk was in.

These numbers don’t tell the story, however, when Kobe goes into Mamba-mode, and we have no answer to even attempt to slow him down. Lee and Pietrus done everything they could and still he went off and took them over that plateau of no-return for us.

Getting the big men of the Lakers into foul trouble early and not capitalising is what galls me most in this loss.

…and when the shot doesnt go down, you get what happened in Game 1. My fear though is that after months of being hot from downtown, the shooters maybe slipping into a funk. Also, the Lakers gauded Dwight very well and he struggled. By shutting Orlando’s inside and outside game and then having Bryant play with his urgency, The Magic never had a shot in this.
Although Stan can make adjustments I dont what in the team’s arsenal is there that we havent seen to remedy this.
Now its a question of will the Lakers play complacent like they did during certain streches of the playoffs. That’s the only way I see us in this…if not, I hate to say it but we maybe in for a sweep again.

What bums me out the most, even with Kobe’s crazy night, was their impressive, impressive defense.

The Battie and Howard combo wasn’t working. Any chance we will see a Gortat or Howard combo? Or do they want to keep them off the floor at the same time?

all year, we haven’t been able to guard elite SGs, then Lebron and Kobe go and hang personal postseason records on us. Honestly, enough about the poor shooting, it’s time we play a little defense, get down and dirty, throw a bow or a hard foul (not you Dwight) and show some grit.

It looked like the Magic were SO focused on not being overwhelmed by the big stage that they forgot it was the freakin’ Finals. When Rashard tapped the ball and then stood completely still and watched as it rolled 5ft out of bounds I was AMAZED. They need to kick up the aggressiveness about 11 notches. Good things follow aggressiveness in one way or another.

This goes squarely on Lewis. Odom owned him and we can’t have that happen and still hope to win.

worst. game. ever. ( ._.)

Got 4 tix and now can’t find any after 15 minutes of just full season 2010 ticket holders availability.

.. the “stage fright” issue for the Magic? Drop it. If Orlando had stage fright, as Kelly Dwyer pointed out, the team wouldn’t have had a 2 point lead after the first quarter and a 5 point lead in the second quarter before Los Angeles stormed back and look control of the game. The Magic missed shots against the Lakers, etc.

As a Lakers fan, there’s plenty to love, and plenty to NOT love, in Game 1. I missed the entire first quarter, and only came into the game as the Magic built their early 5 point lead. After that, I thought the refs gave the Lakers some questionable calls that kept them in the game, then the Triple Ocho suddenly woke up, and it was essentially game over from that point on.

First off, I felt the Magic played the Lakers P&R poorly. While they played this same play from Cleveland great, the Lakers have more talent and better shooters, both inside and outside, to surround Kobe, than the Cavs have to surround Lebron. This is obvious. So Orlando chose to stay at home on the perimeter, and pack the paint if Kobe turned the corner against Pietrus or Lee, both who were completely overmatched. Pietrus, who played LBJ fantastic in the last series, just doesn’t have the foot speed to match Kobe. Several times, I saw Kobe nearly break his ankles with a 13 year old cross over.

However, someone above mentioned maybe trapping Kobe to prevent these drives, which is a likely possibility. However, as my evidence to refute this strategy, look at Games 5 & 6 in the Denver series. The Nuggets attempted to trap Kobe on every pick or isolation, and he burned them by finding the release valve, and this would lead to wide open jumpers that the Lakers knocked down.

On the flip side, the Lakers D, while great inside, was nothing special on the perimeter. Although I felt the Hedo P&R defense was better than usual, the close out on the perimeter shooters went from lazy to over enthusiastic. Although when the Lakers chose not to close out (a bad habit they’ve had ALL SEASON), the Magic missed the shots, on the energetic close outs (see Ariza or Odom), Orlando did a good job of attacking the defender and getting a decent pull up jumper.

While overall, Orlando shot itself in the foot with poor shooting, I still felt like they had a chance if not for Kobe. Because overall, our vaunted front court played subpar. No one could get decent looks inside except for on defensive breakdowns. Odom, Gasol, and Bynum were not overly effective on the offensive end. Despite getting 60 points from his teammates, I still wasn’t overly impressed with any offensive set the Lakers ran that Kobe wasn’t involved in.

Right now, I feel the Lakers are a team of focus. When they set their minds to it, they can play great defense, and unfathomable offense. In 3 straight games now, the Lakers have played great basketball. Combine these with their showings versus Cleveland and Boston in the regular season, and you can possibly see why the Lakers are so favored in this series. Take out the two Orlando games, as I don’t believe the Lakers gave the Magic any respect that early in the season, especially in comparison to the Celtics and Cavs games.

I’ll come back with some breakdowns of those games, plus other major Lakers “focus” games, such as Games 5 & 7 of the Houston series, and 5 & 6 of the Denver series.

I’m sure I’m going to find impressive defensive numbers, as well as rebounding rates.