1 down, 3 to parade...

Los Angeles, CA

In game 1 of the NBA Finals, the Los Angeles Lakers handed down a whoopin' to the Orlando Magic, 100-75. This is a series for better or worse, showcasing Dwight Howard who helped carry a team atop his Atlantean shoulders past the world champion Celtics and King James' Cavaliers to arrive at Staples. Although a different team that cruised by the Lakers in the season series with star point guard Jameer Nelson, many except those at the evil four letter network thought this could still be a good matchup of talents. Orlando boasts Howard, the Defensive Player of the Year and a prolific dunker, flanked by a talented cast of shooters in Hedo Turkoglu, Rashard Lewis, Mickael Peitrus, and Cory Lee. Unfortunately for the Magic, shooting was off and Bynum and the Lakers bigs fed Superman a heavy dose of Kryptonite. Orlando had the same 8 turnovers the Lakers did, but shot only 29% from the field. Their starters were even worse shooting just 23% with Dwight Howard adding just twelve points on 1 of 6 shooting. Hardly the heroics that he displayed in the Eastern conference playoffs. "We've never had a shooting night this bad," said Howard. "We've just got to come out and play harder than we did tonight."

Andrew Bynum scored 9 pints with 9 boards in his 22 minutes. More importantly he has seemed to grow both in body and mind.

"I think after the Houston series everyone realized, 'Look this is what we need to do'" he said after a Friday practice session. "We're going to have to play defense. Everybody's going to have to sacrifice offense, it will take care of itself, especially with us. We have a deep team and everybody (will) score, it's going to come down to how many people we stop, (and) how many stops we can get in a row."

This is a huge truth anybody can see when watching this Los Angeles team. It is evident that this team looks like world beaters when they play with energy and effort on both ends. I figure it hard to find a naysayer at the Lakers chances when they play as a unit. Many times this year they have been another team, another story however. Let's hope every man in the locker room has been enlightened as young Bynum has been. Possibly this will lead Bynum to more self-discovery. I truly believe that if he realizes his true talent and continues to study the game, especially with Cap, he will be one of the top three centers, maybe players in the league over this next decade. This is the kind of team that can go on one of those Jackson lead three-peat's if all cylinders are firing. 

Since we've talked about Bynum and the lackluster, unenthusiastic play of the Magic, let's talk Kobe. Mr. MVP, Mr. Clutch, the Black Mamba, best closer in the game, et. cetera, et. cetera. Bryant became just the fourth player in NBA Finals history (West, Jordan, O'neal) to record at least 40 points, 8 dimes, and 8 rebounds in a game. Bryant was spectacular pacing his team with 18 first half points, and an array of spectacular shots. The fact that Kobe was able to keep his teammates so involved while shouldering much of the scoring load himself was promising for Laker fanatics everywhere. "I just want it so bad, that's all," said Bryant. "I just want it really bad." This team is now three games away from its 15th title and is playing like they want to win it all on the road. My original guess was the Lakers in five, in Orlando. If they play another inspired game this Sunday, a four game sweep wouldn't shock me. With a series win the Lakers will stand just one game under .500 in the Finals (85-86) and next year they could do something about that. Let's sit back and take this one game at a time until then. 

As far as the brains behind the battle schemes, Jackson and Van Gundy are about as even as Magic players Howard and Tyronn Lue in stature, fame, and salary. Phil is 43-0 all-time in the playoffs when winning Game 1 of a series. He is also the NBA all-time leader in Playoff games 296, wins, 206, and win percentage .696%. With another title Jackson would surpass the great Bill Russell (11) for most championships by a player/coach. When Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy was asked if he was intimidated by facing Jackson and all of his rings, he responded, "I guess if one of the NBA players threatened to kick my butt, I'd be intimidated. Phil sitting down there on his chair doesn't intimidate me." Coach Van Gundy also added before the start of the series, "We're not going to win the coaching matchup," he said. "Phil has won more playoff series than I have won playoff games. You've got to be yourself. I couldn't be Phil even if I wanted to." Van Gundy is a 34 game playoff winner. Sunday could bring win number 35, probably not.