NBA Finals: Game 1 Recap

When I think of J.J. Redick, two words immediately come to mind: Kobe Stopper. Redick came into game late in the 4th quarter and checked Kobe Bryant's unabashed demolition of Courtney Lee and Mickael Pietrus (Bryant was 1-5 from the field while Redick was guarding him). Bryant dropped 40 for the first time in 27 career NBA Finals games to lead the Lakers to a dominating 100-75 victory over the Magic. The Lakers have extended their streak of dominant quarters to 9 and a half, a record for these playoffs and possibly the entire season (the Lakers have outscored their opponents by 70 points over that span). It will be interesting to see if they have indeed figured it out, or make up for it by playing poorly over the next couple of games. One thing is for sure--Kobe is determined to take out the Magic as quickly as possible. His teeth-baring performance (40 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast) obliterated the Magic, who had no answer for his aggressiveness (except Redick). Pau Gasol was his usual consistently good self (7-12, 16 pts, 8 reb, 2 blk), Lamar Odom delivered his 3rd straight brilliant performance (11 pts, 14 reb, +21), and Luke Walton completed the best 2 game stretch of his career with another solid game off the bench (4-5, 9 pts, now 9-12 over his last 2 games). But the big story of the night was the Lakers' stifling defense. They held a potent Magic offense to just 75 points on just under 30% shooting from the field. No one was able to find their scoring touch for Orlando. Their big three of Howard, Lewis, and Turkoglu combined for a measley 33 points on 6-27 from the floor. Howard, coming off a 40 point night in the closeout game against the Cavs, was held to just 1-6 shooting (he made exactly 0 baskets over the final 46 minutes of the game) by the combination of Bynum, Gasol, and Odom. Bynum did exactly what he had to do, keeping Howard from catching the ball deep in the paint and forcing him to shoot jump hooks from 6 feet and out, shots that Howard rarely puts in. The Lakers center also made an effort on the boards, finishing with 9 rebounds in just 22 minutes of play (he only grabbed 3 boards in the 41 minutes he played in his previous 2 games). When Bynum was in foul trouble, Gasol and Odom did an admirable job of fronting Howard in the post and not allowing the Magic to get him the ball. Gasol also drew two key offensive fouls on Howard. Odom's length clearly bothered the shot of Rashard Lewis, who finished just 2-10 from the floor after torching the Cavs by hitting over 49% of his shots. Ariza was able to shut down Turkoglu, both as a scorer and as a passer. The Turkish Michael Jordan made only 3 of his 11 field goal attempts and had just 2 assists to his 4 turnovers. Looking ahead to game 2, the Lakers need to just execute their gameplan once more (you can read my last blog post to refresh your memory on that) to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. Meanwhile the Magic must find a way to get their big 3 going. Stan van Gundy must figure out a way to get them favorable matchups, because the size and length the Lakers are putting on them is clearly hindering their offense. Look for Jameer Nelson to be more aggressive and try and get this offense going like he did for the Magic in their regular season meetings against the Lakers. It's going to be a tough road back for Orlando, as Phil Jackson looks to win his 44th consecutive playoff series after winning the first game.