Game 2 Hangover: Opportunity Lost

When Charlie Sheen's character in Wall Street finally meets Gordon Gecko, he gives himself a pep talk before the fateful conversation.

"Life all comes down to a few moments. This is one of them."

Courtney Lee had one of those moments last night. You had momentum in your hands Mr. Lee. With 0.6 seconds left in the 4th quarter and the score tied, Orlando had the opportunity to even the series at 1-1 and go home for three straight games. Unfortunately Lee missed the alley-ooped lay up and the Lakers won Game 2 in overtime, 101-96. Advantage L.A. In an ugly game that was tied at 15 (?) after the first quarter, the Magic missed a chance to steal a game from a sloppy Lakers team and a poor night from Kobe Bryant.

A different Orlando team showed up for Game 2. Not the star-struck bricklayers that showed up for Game 1 but a fierce defensive minded squad that played L.A. blow-for-blow for 48 minutes. A team that held Kobe to 29 points with 7 turnovers and blocked his attempted game-winning jumper at the end of regulation. But when they should have seized the game in the first half from a rusty Lakers team and a silent L.A. crowd, Orlando was trading slop for slop with them. Twenty Magic turnovers (7 by Dwight Howard) and missed free throws in the second half, doomed them from ever getting offensive flow and capturing the game's energy.

Who Showed Up:

Pau Gasol. 24 pts 10 reb 3 asts. Gasol had 7 of his 24 points in the overtime period and along with Odom, Bynum, and disguised double-teams from the Laker perimeter players, forced Dwight Howard into 7 turnovers and only 10 field goal attempts.

Rashard Lewis. 34 pts 11 reb 7 asts. Lewis scored 18 or his 34 in the second quarter and shot 6-12 from the three point line for the game. He almost single handily kept Orlando in the first half. 5 offensive rebounds also gave the Magic second chance opportunities that limited the damage done by the 20 turnovers.

Who Didn't:

Kobe Bryant. 29 pts (10-22 FG) 8 asts 7 TO. You get all the praise from Game 1, you gotta take the heat from Game 2. An ugly 29 points that came on 9 two-point and 1 three-point field goals with JJ Redick guarding him for much of the second half. Also your scowl and Mr. Grumpy persona post-game is getting real old, real fast. Lots of athletes can be focused and not be an asshole. Apparently you aren't one of them.

Andrew Bynum 5 pts 1 reb 5 personal fouls 16 min. Bynum racked up the fouls on Dwight Howard and spent a lot of quality pine time watching Odom and Gasol D up Superman. His offense is extremely limited which is OK if you hustle on defense and gobble up some rebounds. That Bynum hasn't showed up yet.