In the franchise's seventh attempt at caressing an NBA Finals victory, the Orlando Magic finally finished on top. It wasn't easy though. Kobe Bryant got off in the first quarter. After initially deferring to teammates, he left the net drenched, scoring 17 of his 31 in the opening period. The Lakers led most of the first half, despite the Magic shooting an unthinkable percentage, over 75%. In the waning moments of the half, Orlando snuck past L.A. to take a slim 5 point lead.
The Magic utilized a balanced scoring attack. Dwight Howard had 21 (5-6 from the field, 11-16 from the line). Rashard Lewis had another outstanding performance with 21 (8-14 from the field). Hedo Turkoglu scored 18 (7-11 on FGs) and Rafer Alston finally woke up, adding 20 points on 8-12 shooting. Along with Alston, another key role player to step up at home was Mickael Pietrus, who scored 18 off the bench, going 7-11 from the field and playing solid second half defense on Bryant.
Bryant wasn't himself in the closing moments of the contest. Overall, he shot 5-10 from the line, including key fourth quarter misses. Instead of trusting his teammates, as he's learn to do, he forced the issue. Pau Gasol had 23 points, Trevor Ariza threw in 13, Jordan Farmar added 11, and Derek Fisher tallied 9. But all were silent late with time running out. With under a minute to go, Kobe entered into his drive with a crossover. Howard stuck his hand in and knocked the ball loose. Pietrus then ripped the prize away from Gasol and sunk two free throws to essentially win the game. Howard's deflection was astounding, but Kobe was also uncharacteristically pressing.
While the play of Alston and Pietrus put Orlando over the top, Lamar Odom struggled for the Lakers, who are tough to beat when he plays well. The Magic are not back in the series yet, but they're not going away either.
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