Don't count out Magic, but Kobe sure looks possessed

Throughout their run to the NBA Finals, the Orlando Magic made a habit of sticking around every time it looked like they might be finished. That is worth remembering in the wake of the 100-75 blowout loss they endured Thursday against the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening game of the championship series.

There wasn't much positive about this game for the Magic, other than the return of guard Jameer Nelson and that it was only one loss - sort of like the daggers they endured against Philadelphia and Boston en route to this spot.

Oh, and let's not forget the shot LeBron James hit for Cleveland to win Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. You don't recover from that, except the Magic did.

Having said that, the Magic need to find an answer quickly for Kobe Bryant. It wasn't just the 40 points Bryant laid on the Magic - LeBron was a scoring machine for the Cavs, too, and that didn't matter - it was how it happened.

Stars are going to get their points, but the scary part about Bryant's production is that he doesn't have to win the game by himself, like LeBron had to. The Cavs spent a lot of time in that series talking about the matchup problems the Magic presented them, but the reverse was true against the Lakers.

L.A. ran the likes of Pau Gasol (16 points), Lamar Odom (11 points, 14 rebounds) and Andrew Bynum (nine rebounds) against the Magic. When you add Kobe to that mix, the Magic had no shot.

I mean that almost literally. They made only 29 percent of their shots from the field

Dwight Howard didn't have a field goal after the first quarter, which happened to be his only one of the game. Hedu Turkoglu (3-for-11) and Rashard Lewis (2-for-10) didn't pick up the slack. Mickael Pietrus was their leading scorer with 14 points. That won't get it done.

"I know playoff history and stuff, and it's pretty hard to find a champion who hasn't at some point in their playoff run gotten their butts beat by 20-plus. I mean, San Antonio did it I think every year in their playoff runs," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy told reporters afterward.

"You go back far enough, and obviously I worked for Pat Riley, and those of you who are old enough or even older than I am remember the Memorial Day Massacre. Those kinds of things happen. They get one win for it."

Van Gundy referred to Game 1 of the 1985 NBA Finals when Boston beat the Lakers 148-1114 in Game 1. The Lakers won the series in six games.

On the ropes

There is another kind of playoff history of which Van Gundy is no doubt aware. Lakers coach Phil Jackson is 43-0 when he wins the first game of a playoff series, which means the Magic are on the ropes already.

They have until Sunday night to regroup for Game 2.

They can start with a little self-motivation, which shouldn't be hard after enduring a night like that.

Bryant, frankly, appeared to almost will the Lakers in this one.

"I just want it so bad," he told reporters afterward.

He sure looked like it. One of the storylines throughout L.A.'s playoff run has been Bryant's single-minded approach toward a championship after the Lakers were beaten by Boston last year. Those Finals ended with an embarrassing 39-point loss to the Celtics, and Bryant hasn't gotten over it.

So there he was against the Magic, pumping his fist, creating shots, using his teammates - and it was overwhelming.

You don't stop someone like that, just like the Magic didn't stop LeBron. But they have to find a way to get Howard some help inside, and they have to shoot better.

Resilient team

The Lakers were favored coming into this series and Game 1 only reinforced that. They have won 16 consecutive best-of-seven series when taking the opening game.

So we'll find out just what the Magic have in the wake of a game like this.

I remember after Orlando rebounded from LeBron's miraculous shot and won Game 3 of the conference finals. Van Gundy had some fun with the media afterward, dripping sarcasm as he talked about all the analysis about whether the Magic could ever recover from such a crushing blow.

They're kind of in that spot now.

Most people will look at Game 1 and say the Magic have no shot in this series. There's no doubt the Lakers are on a mission, and on Thursday they looked unstoppable. But count the Magic out? Do that at your own risk.