Magic's midseason malaise takes sizzle out of rematch with Lakers
LOS ANGELES -- Seven months should bring change, should offer fresh perspective. Bring some kind of new insight.
Alas, the Lakers and Magic hooked up for the first time since the NBA Finals last June and about the only obvious difference Monday was the play of their respective superstars.
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| After a roaring start, the Magic don't like what they've seen of themselves lately. (AP) |
As return engagements go, it was not exactly Godfather II. It was barely Basic Instinct 2.
In an oddly uneven game, the Lakers put together one streak more than the Magic, exiting Staples Center with a 98-92 victory.
For a Finals rematch, there was precious little buzz. Some of that can be attributed to the teams having almost no history, the Lakers taking the Finals in five quick games, and perhaps mostly, to the unexpected shrinking of the Magic.
"It's just another game," Kobe Bryant said. "There was no emotions from us. For us it wasn't a big deal."
The Lakers, of course, again own the NBA's best record. Their big challenge is getting their two gifted 7-footers, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum, to be effective on the floor together.
Orlando, however, has been a whole other matter.
The Magic began the season like a young team that had grown from its Finals run, jumping out to a 17-4 start. They've gone 9-11 since and have lost seven of their past nine.
Answers have been hard to come by. Rashard Lewis has not been the same player since serving a 10-game suspension for performance enhancing drugs. Vince Carter has gone cold.
But a spark is clearly missing, so much so that when the Magic fell to the injury-riddled Trail Blazers on Friday, forward Matt Barnes said: "We got no heart."
Magic coach Stan Van Gundy is charged with trying to calm the crew while righting the ship.
"We're not playing well right now," he said. "People want to find psychological angles. That it was post-championship letdown. We started 17-4, so that was late coming. That it's chemistry. It's none of these things. We're simply not playing well."
The Magic did not play particularly well to start Monday's game; the Lakers jumped out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter. It might have come a tad too easily to the Lakers.
With Howard strong early in the second quarter, Orlando cut the Lakers' lead to five points at the half. Then the Magic put together their best stretch, opening the second half with a 20-4 run to lead by as many as nine (67-58).
Kobe was having an off night (4 for 19 from the field), and briefly, everything seemed possible.
Then sparked by reserves Shannon Brown and Jordan Farmar, the Lakers opened the fourth quarter with a 15-0 run of their own. The evening's suspense had ebbed.
"It was like an avalanche," Bryant said. "It was too much for them to get back into the game after that."
Howard, who had 18 points midway into the second quarter, took only two more shots the rest of the night. The Lakers' quick double-teaming left him unable to get a shot off.
And the Magic was left still searching for answers.
"We're in a tough stretch, but we've just got to continue to work," Howard said. "We're going to get over this."
The Lakers, as has been their wont, played well enough to win. Now they embark on their biggest challenge of the season, opening an eight-game road trip Thursday in Cleveland that also takes them back to Boston.
A return engagement that promises to prove more inspiring.
