After 2 games, Orlando Magic had another deja vu of their first finals appearance 14 years ago.
It was Nick Anderson that time that muffed 4 charities that enabled Houston to rob Game 1 of their finals. This time, it was Courtney Lee who missed a potential go-ahead layup that could have given them a 2 point lead and it was also Lee who missed the could-be game winning layup for the Magic after a perfect lob pass from Hedo Turkoglu.
For a season of comebacks, Magic must do a mere magical act to escape this current hole. Down 0-2, no team in NBA finals history have ever came back from this deficit. Given the season of Orlando, including down 2-1 against Philly in their first round, down 3-2 against Boston and a convincing clinching victory over Cleveland, there's no doubt that this team can come back.
Not only if they stop the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant.
Byrant struck hardest in Game 1, finishing with 40 points 8 rebounds and 8 assists, simply showing why he deserves to be MVP than Lebron James. Game 2, Magic double teamed Kobe resulting to his 7 turnovers but still finished with a modest line of 29 points and 8 assists. But more notably, Lamar Odom scored 19 off the bench while Fisher added 12 points. For a finals game, those numbers are huge. Bench players are the X-factor for this series. Superstars would off-set each performance and it's up to the role guys to provide the spark for their respective teams.
In this finals, the story so far has been Kobe Bryant. This is evident to their 2-0 lead in the finals. Bryant is determined to prove to everyone that he doesn't need a dominating center or simply say he doesn't need Shaq. He has Gasol in this series. Gasol has not been dominant but he's applying defense on Howard towards the latter part of the game. We have expected that Andrew Bynum will be plagued by foul trouble upon guarding Howard, which was right after he occured 5 fouls in just 16 minutes of action. Kobe can score, no doubt about it. The question lies for the Lakers is, who will step up and help Kobe in his scoring. Defense has also been the key, limiting Howard to just 14.5 PPG, a far cry from his 40 point performance in their clinching victory over Cleveland. Ariza has done a decent job in guarding Turkoglu.
For the Magic, their momentum simply was lost in Game 1. Where is Rafer Alston? The guy who dropped 26 points in Game 5 of Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland and was the running quarterback of the team that sent Lebron James home crying. The addition of Jameer Nelson have been a negative impact for the team. Stan Van Gundy must determine which point guard will he play more. In their 2 games, their minutes is evenly distributed. But for me, it was Alston who guided this team into this contention and it should be Alston commanding the point. I would gamble on Alston, who was the one responsible for bringing this team deep in the playoffs rather than Nelson, who guided the team in the regular season only to be injured and left the team in the playoffs. Where is Mikael Pietrus? Pietrus averaged close to 13 points per game in their series against Cleveland. This time, he fouled out Game 2. He has been the best perimeter defender of Magic but has been struggling in this series.
After 2 games, Lakers seem destined to notch their first title without Shaq. Magic meanwhile, are desperate searching for answers.
It was Nick Anderson that time that muffed 4 charities that enabled Houston to rob Game 1 of their finals. This time, it was Courtney Lee who missed a potential go-ahead layup that could have given them a 2 point lead and it was also Lee who missed the could-be game winning layup for the Magic after a perfect lob pass from Hedo Turkoglu.
For a season of comebacks, Magic must do a mere magical act to escape this current hole. Down 0-2, no team in NBA finals history have ever came back from this deficit. Given the season of Orlando, including down 2-1 against Philly in their first round, down 3-2 against Boston and a convincing clinching victory over Cleveland, there's no doubt that this team can come back.
Not only if they stop the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant.
Byrant struck hardest in Game 1, finishing with 40 points 8 rebounds and 8 assists, simply showing why he deserves to be MVP than Lebron James. Game 2, Magic double teamed Kobe resulting to his 7 turnovers but still finished with a modest line of 29 points and 8 assists. But more notably, Lamar Odom scored 19 off the bench while Fisher added 12 points. For a finals game, those numbers are huge. Bench players are the X-factor for this series. Superstars would off-set each performance and it's up to the role guys to provide the spark for their respective teams.
In this finals, the story so far has been Kobe Bryant. This is evident to their 2-0 lead in the finals. Bryant is determined to prove to everyone that he doesn't need a dominating center or simply say he doesn't need Shaq. He has Gasol in this series. Gasol has not been dominant but he's applying defense on Howard towards the latter part of the game. We have expected that Andrew Bynum will be plagued by foul trouble upon guarding Howard, which was right after he occured 5 fouls in just 16 minutes of action. Kobe can score, no doubt about it. The question lies for the Lakers is, who will step up and help Kobe in his scoring. Defense has also been the key, limiting Howard to just 14.5 PPG, a far cry from his 40 point performance in their clinching victory over Cleveland. Ariza has done a decent job in guarding Turkoglu.
For the Magic, their momentum simply was lost in Game 1. Where is Rafer Alston? The guy who dropped 26 points in Game 5 of Eastern Conference Finals against Cleveland and was the running quarterback of the team that sent Lebron James home crying. The addition of Jameer Nelson have been a negative impact for the team. Stan Van Gundy must determine which point guard will he play more. In their 2 games, their minutes is evenly distributed. But for me, it was Alston who guided this team into this contention and it should be Alston commanding the point. I would gamble on Alston, who was the one responsible for bringing this team deep in the playoffs rather than Nelson, who guided the team in the regular season only to be injured and left the team in the playoffs. Where is Mikael Pietrus? Pietrus averaged close to 13 points per game in their series against Cleveland. This time, he fouled out Game 2. He has been the best perimeter defender of Magic but has been struggling in this series.
After 2 games, Lakers seem destined to notch their first title without Shaq. Magic meanwhile, are desperate searching for answers.
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