LOS ANGELES (AP) -Forget the lopsided score. The Orlando Magic insist Game 1 of the NBA finals was no different from those two-point losses they had earlier in the postseason.
The Magic proved they could overcome those defeats, and they feel they’ll rebound from their 100-75 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night.
“You know, the margin, it’s disappointing, but it’s still one win for them. They don’t get two for it,” Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said.
The Magic opened the postseason by losing two of the first three games against Philadelphia, both on last-second shots. Throw in a buzzer beater by Boston’s Glen Davis in the second round, and of course LeBron James’ 3-pointer to win Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, and Orlando has had its heart broken plenty in this postseason.
Now the Magic are shrugging off a blowout, figuring everyone absorbs one along the way, with Van Gundy even recalling a memorable one the Lakers had in Boston.
butts beat by 20-plus,” Van Gundy said.
“I mean, San Antonio did it I think every year in their playoff runs. You go back far enough, and obviously I worked for Pat Riley, and those of you who are old enough or even older than I am remember the Memorial Day Massacre. Those kind of things happen.”
And now it’s happened to the Magic on the NBA’s biggest stage.
“The feeling in the locker room, we’ve been beaten bad before,” Dwight Howard said. “We had to bounce back. Nobody is upset or angry that we lost. We just understand that we have to do it as a team.”
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BYNUM’S BACK: 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 against Howard, Orlando’s Superman center. Howard had only one field goal and 12 points, finishing far below the 40 he scored in the Magic’s previous game, as 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.
ers’ strategy in defending Howard. They sent the notoriously poor free-throw shooter to the line 16 times, where he made 10.
“Andrew was active, he was aggressive and those are the types of 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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ORLANDO’S ‘O’: The Orlando Magic’s return to the NBA finals was one of the worst performances in championship history.
Orlando shot 29.9 percent from the field in its 100-75 loss to the Lakers, not much above Syracuse’s finals-worst 27.5 percent mark against Fort Wayne in the 1955 finals. It was the lowest mark in the finals since San Antonio shot 28.9 percent against the New Jersey Nets in Game 4 of the 2003 finals.
The Magic were held to their lowest point total of the postseason.
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VAN GUNDYISMS: Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy wasn’t worried about President Barack Obama’s NBA finals prediction that the Lakers would win 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,” Van Gundy said before the game. “I hope he’s not spending too much time worrying about the NBA finals.”
ts 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.
The Lakers are favored to win the championship, and the Magic say they are used to the 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,” Love said.
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