Kobe Leads Lakers Over Magic; Are The Magic Going To Fight Back?

The Los Angeles Lakers solved all the problems the Cleveland Cavaliers had against the Orlando Magic and crushed the Magic last night 100-75. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 40 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists, while Dwight Howard struggled, only hitting one field goal on his way to 10 points and 15 rebounds.

The problem isn't that the Magic lost. The problem is how the Magic lost. Orlando looked utterly defenseless as Kobe Bryant sliced and diced his way to 40 points. Orlando's "impressive 3-point shooters"? Non-factor. Hedo Turokglu: 3-11. Rashard Lewis: 2-10. Orlando, one of the NBA's top 3-point shooting teams, managed to shoot a surprisingly average 8-23 from 3-point land and a woeful 23-77 (29.9%) from the field. Let's just say the Lakers defense is a little better than the Cavlier's D. Dwight Howard, who had his way against the lead-footed Zydrunas Ilgauskas last series, seemed baffled by the defensive duo of Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. The Laker's strategy against Howard? Play behind him. Force him to make a play, not just dunk, and if he catches the ball right under the rim? Hack him. And frankly, it worked. Multiple times, Howard rolled his way inside, ended up about eight feet away from the basket with defense still around him, and ended up missing the layup. Orlando needs to find a way to get him the ball deeper, or Howard has to find a way to make a move to get himself open. Orlando is not going to win an NBA Championship with Dwight Howard scoring 10 points in a game.

In a brief side-story, Chester native Jameer Nelson returned to action in Game 1. Nelson shot 3-9 and finished with 6 points, 4 asssist, and 2 rebounds in 23 minutes. Not too shabby for a player who just returned from a long injury. We'll see how much and how well he plays in the rest of the series.

Orlando has plenty of questions to answer heading into Game 2. Mainly: How Can We Stop Kobe Bryant? Magic fans better hope that the team can find answers soon, otherwise it will be over before they know it.