Kobe Bryant lived up to his name “Black Mamba” as he snaked around the whole Magic defense all throughout Game 1. Scoring 40 points with 8 rebounds and assists, the Orlando Magic couldn’t muster the skills to challenge Mr. Unstoppable. Pau Gasol helped with 16 points and Lamar Odom followed with 11 points for L.A. The Lakers are one up in this series after their 100-75 game against Orlando. Dwight Howard was mostly double or triple gaurd everytime he had the ball and was held to 12 points with only 10 of them from free throws. Turkoglu and Pietrus added a combined total of 27 points for the Orlando Magic. Even with Jameer Nelson, returning from a four month vacation due to a shoulder injury, was not able to help lift the Magic against the Lakers. Kobe‘s 40 point effort was his career high in a finals game, but his 10th in the playoffs.

Game 2 was a close call for the Lakers. The game went into overtime but L.A. was able to pull through with a victory scoring 101 points to Orlando’s 96. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 29 points and Pau Gasol added 24 points and 10 rebounds. This was Pau‘s 10th double-double in the last 11 games. Derek Fisher followed them with 12 points and Lamar Odom helped with 19 points to beat Orlando. Before the game went into overtime Orlando rookie Courtney Lee blew a layup opportunity to win the game which foreshadowed a long finals series for the Magic. Rashard Lewis led Orlando with 34 points and Dwight Howard had 17 points and 16 rebounds. Game 3 is Tuesday night at Orlando’s Amway Arena, make sure to return to 24HourHipHop.com for more Playoffs coverage.