LOS ANGELES (AP) -Andrew Bynum watched the NBA finals last year. On Thursday night, he wasn’t going to watch Dwight Howard dominate.
Bynum’s physical play set the tone to shutting down Howard, Orlando’s Superman center. Howard had only one field goal, far below the 40 points he scored in the Magic’s last game, the Lakers ran away for a 100-75 victory.
“I thought Andrew came out with a lot of energy to start the ballgame, which really helped us get off to a good start, and he did as good a job as you can on Dwight,” Kobe Bryant said.
Bynum had nine points and nine rebounds, providing a physical presence that was sorely lacking last year in the Lakers’ loss to Boston, when he was still sidelined following season-ending knee surgery.
He picked up four fouls in 22 minutes, but that was part of the Lakers’ strategy in defending Howard. They sent the notoriously poor free throw shooter to the line 16 times, where he made 10.
f things that he is capable of doing,” said Derek Fisher, who finished with nine points. “We’ve seen him do it time and time again and that’s the type of play we’ll continue to need from him in order to be successful. He controlled the paint at times and that was big for us.”
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NO MORE HORRY: Robert Horry, known for his tendency to hit big shots in key situations, says he’s not looking to play anymore. He’d rather coach or continue working as a broadcaster.
“I’m more interested in those gigs. I just started putting my name out there,” said Horry, who was at Staples Center for Game 1 of the Lakers-Magic series.
So where would he like to end up?
“I think I have a respect around the league where guys will respect the knowledge I have. I’m a crossroads guy and I have knowledge from both big time eras.”
Teams can certainly grab hints about what it takes to make clutch shots from Horry, who won NBA titles while playing for both the Lakers and Spurs.
So which shots rank on the top of his list?
How about the shot in 2003 when he hit a game-winning 23-foot jumper with no time left to give the Lakers a 97-95 win over the Pacers?
Horry.
“The shot here, the shot in Detroit and the dunk in Detroit are tops.”
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VAN GUNDYISMS: Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy wasn’t worried about President Obama’s NBA finals prediction that has the Lakers winning the series in six games. “I can honestly say I had absolutely no thoughts on that whatsoever. I hope he’s got a lot more important things to be concerned about,” said Van Gundy before the game. “I hope he’s not spending too much time worrying about the NBA finals.”
What about his thoughts on the star power often found on the sidelines?
“There’s one person in the entire world that I’ve ever been awe-struck by and been sort of like a little kid celebrity-wise, and that’s Oscar Robertson. I’ve met him three times in my life. I’m still like a little kid around him. Everybody else is no big deal,” said Van Gundy, who is making his first finals appearance.
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MAGIC’S MOMENT: The Orlando Magic have finally found someone picking them to win.
An EA Sports NBA Live 10 simulation of the NBA finals resulted with the Magic beating the Lakers for their first championship. The Magic dropped the first two games of the series, but rallied to win the final two in Los Angeles, winning the title with a 96-88 victory in Game 7.
Dwight Howard was MVP of the series in the simulation.
e underdog role.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson has never lost a series when winning Game 1, going 43-0.
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SPREADING SOME LOVE: Timberwolves forward and former UCLA star Kevin Love was making the rounds Thursday, as an interviewer. Love, working as a correspondent for NBA TV, was quizzing Magic Johnson on what it takes to get to the finals. “I’m working a little bit,” said Love, who claimed he was a bit nervous. “You’re on the complete other side of the spectrum, so you have to be quick with your questions.”
Any perks? “Sure, I get to come to the games for free,” said Love.
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BANK SHOTS: Mickael Pietrus, who is from France, will have AF447 written on his shoes that`s a tribute to the passengers of the Air France Flight that crashed. … Orlando COO Alex Martins flew out the entire Magic front office staff (200-plus) for Game 1 in LA.
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