Magic 75, Lakers 100

[Topdawg13]

Great game by the Lakers tonight, but the Magic didn't show up at all, horrible effort by Orlando.

Game Recap ()

Box Score ()


Bryant, playing like a man possessed, scored 40 points and the Lakers, who have waited nearly one year for a chance to erase bitter memories of a Boston beatdown and a championship they felt belonged to them, pounded the Orlando Magic 100-75 in Game 1 on Thursday night.

This year, nothing short of a 15th title will do for the Lakers.

And with the sensational Bryant out front, they may be on their way.

Game 2 is Sunday night at star-studded Staples Center, where actors Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and rapper Kanye West had front-row seats to see another virtuoso performance by Bryant, who scored 18 points in the third quarter as the Lakers opened a 26-point lead.

[dolfan06]

6 points didn't do too much good!:smt006

[Imaginary Moderator]

Great game by the Lakers tonight, but the Magic didn't show up at all, horrible effort by Orlando.

Game Recap ()

Box Score ()

This was just a piss poor performance by Orlando, they didnt make teh extra pass like they have all post season. And when they got open looks they missed. Lewis and Hedo let themselves get all out of control on drives to the basket and expected teh refs to bail them out....

[dolfan06]

i googled the box score for Lakers/Magic and got the game orlando won 106-103, i didn't think fisher had 27 points, he only had 9. played good defense though. as far as bynum and fisher go, they were still nonfactors. bynum only had 3, but he only played 11 minutes. if they both can get going, game, set, match.

[Imaginary Moderator]

fisher scored more tonight than he has in the playoffs, had 27.

i said if fisher can get a hot hand, the :akers wouldn't lose.

Tonight had nothing to do with Fisher, the Magic missed open shots, layups, and even missed an alley oop to Howard. Rafer Alston missed two or three, three pointers that were WIDE open. The Magic shot 29.9% from teh field and 34.8% from 3 point range, I can sit here off the top of my head and think of 7-8 shots inside three point range that should have been gimmies. Hedo missed one from no more than 10 feet, Howard missed teh alley... ect. None of those were a result of anything LA did, just Orlando missing their shots.

[dolfan06]

yeah, LA had nothing to do with it? just held em to under 30% shooting. how many blocked shots were there? when somebody is worrying about having their shot blocked, they don't shoot as well.

[Father Guido Sarducci]

yeah, LA had nothing to do with it? just held em to under 30% shooting. how many blocked shots were there? when somebody is worrying about having their shot blocked, they don't shoot as well.

It's just one game - The Magic will make adjustments - they had plenty of open looks, LA cannot count on them shooting poorly the whole series. I honestly don't think Nelson helped the Magic, his time in game one may help in future games but I felt they got out of rhythm when Nelson came in - It was a close game until he came in the game. Not that he played poorly, I just felt the entire team out of sync.

[dolfan06]

hey, nelson made up the 6 points!

i deserve the right to gloat. not one other laker fan came in on this thread and all i read was how the magic were gonna win. they score inside with howard, they're a better 3-point team, nelson is gonna start, etc. now i read it was nothing the Lakers did, thats a bunch of crap. they out scored, out rebounded and thouroughly out played the magic. if you can't admit to that, its sour grapes.

[Steveo 90]

ok here is my :twocents: from a fan who admits he hasnt watched either team until the playoffs.........i really feel that this was more of a magic loss then anything else
i cant really remember a game where i saw so many open looks go for misses,and dont get me started on the poor/missed passes most of the night


on defense the magic looked like a team trying not to lose, instead of applying pressure on the ball like i saw in boston/cleveland series they seemed like they were playing not to get fouls called on them.........it sure seemed that way to me starting with about 4 mins left in the first half and yes kobe did have a great game,but when did that start happening......towards the end of the first half right


nobody can deny that phil jackson isnt a great coach......what is he 9 for 13 in championships finals as a coach,i also believe he has one 2 as a player so we all know he isnt going to get rattled


and 06 if you want to gloat go ahead,its a message board........you state your opinion and others will state there,but i believe im,padre and topdawg live or have lived lived in the orlando area so of course they are going to be passionate about there team......everybody who reads this message board knows you used to live in cali so of course you stay loyal to your team,nothing wrong with that........i respect that


but i will tell you why i want the magic to win,i want it for stan vangundy......imo he was forced out of the heat job no matter what anybody says(and maybe i am a cold but for another title i would do it again) and i would just like to see him win one

[DeVoStation]

kobe kicked their ass , even when he was out the maji didnt make too

good a run.. orlando seemed overwhelmed

[dolfan06]

ok here is my :twocents:

and 06 if you want to gloat go ahead,its a message board........you state your opinion and others will state there,but i believe im,padre and topdawg live or have lived lived in the orlando area so of course they are going to be passionate about there team......everybody who reads this message board knows you used to live in cali so of course you stay loyal to your team,nothing wrong with that........i respect that


i have said all i'm gonna say, its a long series and i don't have the taste buds for crow.

btw, the angels increased their lead to 2 games instead of falling to 1! :clap:

[DeVoStation]

I believe van gundy was in the way of rileys ego

[FishFace]

hey, nelson made up the 6 points!

i deserve the right to gloat. not one other laker fan came in on this thread and all i read was how the magic were gonna win. they score inside with howard, they're a better 3-point team, nelson is gonna start, etc. now i read it was nothing the Lakers did, thats a bunch of crap. they out scored, out rebounded and thouroughly out played the magic. if you can't admit to that, its sour grapes.


:clap: :clap: :clap: Exactly sour grapes, not a Laker win no way it was a magic loss, they missed all those open looks yes but why, could it be that they were desperate and panicking because they were getting there asses kicked, why so many outside shots to miss in the first place, Lakers shutting down the paint forcing it out. Howard goes 1 - 6 shooting, I guess Gasol, Bynum and Odom had nothing to do with that:PDT_orcspash: . Van Gundy def game plan against Kobe was a huge mistake, let's come off Kobe and give wide open looks at his favorite spot on the floor to shoot from. That along with bringing in Nelson (Rafer Allston can you feel the love and confidence your coaches have in you now) to throw off the team chemistry that got them to the finals in the first place, bad coaching.

I know it's just one game, and I don't expect Orlando to shoot under 30% again, they better do something because the Lakers are very much at home in the finals and are playing there best hoops of the year right now when it matter's most.

Lakers in 6

[dolfan06]

:clap: :clap: :clap: Exactly sour grapes, not a Laker win no way it was a magic loss, they missed all those open looks yes but why, could it be that they were desperate and panicking because they were getting there asses kicked, why so many outside shots to miss in the first place, Lakers shutting down the paint forcing it out. Howard goes 1 - 6 shooting, I guess Gasol, Bynum and Odom had nothing to do with that:PDT_orcspash: . Van Gundy def game plan against Kobe was a huge mistake, let's come off Kobe and give wide open looks at his favorite spot on the floor to shoot from. That along with bringing in Nelson (Rafer Allston can you feel the love and confidence your coaches have in you now) to throw off the team chemistry that got them to the finals in the first place, bad coaching.

I know it's just one game, and I don't expect Orlando to shoot under 30% again, they better do something because the Lakers are very much at home in the finals and are playing there best hoops of the year right now when it matter's most.

Lakers in 6anything can happen in a 7 game series and i even suspect the Lakers might lose the three games in orlando, but after that embarassment last year, i don't think they will lose the series. it would make it a whole lot easier if bynum and fisher could put in a solid game.

[FishFace]

anything can happen in a 7 game series and i even suspect the Lakers might lose the three games in orlando, but after that embarassment last year, i don't think they will lose the series. it would make it a whole lot easier if bynum and fisher could put in a solid game.


Agreed, I read an article at Lakers.com where Bynum states that he realizes that he needs to approach the game from a defensive stand point first and his offence will take care of itself, let's hope he can stay out of early foul trouble, as for Fisher he has lost a step and his three's from the corner are not dropping as much, I think he would be the first to admit that so let's hope he picks his spots and not try to push to much. I would also like to see more Shannon Brown he brings alot of energy off the bench.