Earlier in the NBA playoffs, a 25-point Los Angeles Lakers victory would have been a source of concern heading into the ensuing game.
Fortunately, the Lakers now have two things going for them following their 100-75 blowout of the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.
No. 1: Witness LeBron James.
Who?
You know, the Silent Chosen One? The one who stole what should've been a glorious week for the Magic after winning the Eastern Conference Finals in six games on Friday. Instead of praising Orlando for reaching for its second NBA Final in franchise history (Shaq, tell me how Magic bleep tastes), all the focus out east was on LeBron's "competitor" mentality that explained his absence of sportsmanship to the Magic and abandonment of his teammates during postgame interviews.
The same James that was so eager to pat himself on the back publicly after his miraculous 3-point shot at the buzzer of Game 2 in the East Finals that tied the series with Orlando.
If the Lakers need a lesson in humility, they only need to witness a review of James' behavior from the moment he hit that shot. The Magic won three of the next four and the next thing you know, LeBron has left the building.
No. 2: The fourth quarter of Game 5 in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers and Nuggets were tied in a triple-knot -- the series was 2-2 and the teams were tied after the first, second and third quarters.
Tied at 76 going into the fourth quarter of that May 27 game, Los Angeles apparently found the basketball religion all its fans have been waiting for it to unleash all season.
In nine quarters of basketball since that tenuous position against Denver, the Lakers have outscored their opponents 246-185. That averages to a 29.3-point margin of victory per game.
Of course, the Lakers have tantalized before, only to disappoint later. They were readily bolting to 20-point leads against Utah in round one of the playoffs, only to see the Jazz claw back and make a games of them.
Nothing close to that happened in either of L.A.'s last two games.
The Lakers kept saying that they needed a challenge during these playoffs to toughen them. I was skeptical because I would've thought the end to the 2008 NBA Finals would've provided Los Angeles the impetus to get tougher this time out.
Kobe Bryant, not James, has come to resemble the true No. 23 -- the one that led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships -- in the last few games of the'09 playoffs. His teammates seemingly have made the commitment to play on both ends of the floor.
Of course, the Magic have had games during their postseason run that have made many wonder how they have even won a series, much less made it to the Finals. Because of their resiliency, here they are.
If the Lakers play the way they have the last 2 1/4 games, it may not matter how resilient Orlando is.
Nine quarters is just more than halfway to four wins -- the number required in the Finals to win a title. The Lakers still have a long way to go.
But when asked about what the Lakers needed to take from Game 1, Bryant said his team best forget about it.
That's an encouraging sign for the rest of the series.
As far as I'm concerned.
Keywords: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers, Orlando Magic
