NBA Finals Game 1 Recap: Don't Panic Magic

The Magic only shot 29% from the field and I doubt that is going to happen again. Dwight Howard was only 1-6 from the field and I doubt that is going to happen again. Getting Game 1 out of the way should take away from some of that nervousness that seemed to doom the Magic from the start.

If I was Ron Jeremy errrrrrrr Stan Van Gundy I would just throw away the tape and act like Game 2 is Game 1 because you not going to find much good in getting beat down by 25.

One thing I noticed is for every series before the Finals the Magic had serious mismatch advantages over their opponents, but against the Lakers they are at a disadvantage. Courtney Lee is a great rookie but if he is getting abused by Luke Walton how do you expect him to guard Kobe Bryant? Rashard Lews and Hedo Turkoglu are being harassed on the perimeter by Trevor Ariza & Lamar Odom. Andrum Bynum did exactly what he needed to do against Dwight Howard be aggressive on both ends of the court and foul him any time he is trying to go up for a dunk. No one on the Magic can handle Pau Gasol in the post. So as you can see the Magic have some issues, but if they can start hitting their shots and maybe get Jameer Nelson a few more minutes I would not be shocked if they won Game 2.

The Lakers are locked in. Whereas the Magic where trying to find there way, the Lakers were all in serial killer mode from the beginning. Kobe Bryant doesn't even look happy on the court. He is like a shark that hasn't eaten in a few days and sees blood in the water. All the Lakers are following his lead. He looks pissed and they look pissed.

Remember after last year Finals all the way up to this years Finals they have been described as "soft", "mentally weak", "indifferent defensively" and those are some of the nicer terms.

The best way to shut up your critics is do what they did last night and that is dominate. Their defense against the Magic was outstanding and if they play with that kind of defense intensity throughout the remainder of the series it won't be a long one.

I am a little concerned about Kobe taking so many shots (34 to be exact) because they are a better team when the ball is spread around more, but I am nitpicking especially considering he had eight assists as well.

This is the Lakers series to lose at this point. If they win Game 2 I think the series is a wrap, so in my mind the next game is the most important game for both the Magic and the Lakers so stay tuned.