Ok.  So the start was quite impressive.  Kobe played more angry than I’ve ever seen and he was focused from start to finish.  There are a few reasons why I think this is happening.  But I will keep that under the lid for now.  I want to see how he plays the rest of the series to test my theories. 

But what can you say about his 18 point third quarter.  His energy, speed and skill set was just superior.  I can’t say I am amazed cause it’s him.  But I can say I am extremely impressed in understanding that nobody does it like he does.  NOBODY!  He was the Amazing Thing Happening.

What I enjoyed about the victory most of all was not that it was a blowout.  Blowing out a veteran team like the Celtics did in 1985 against the Lakers in the famed Memorial Day Massacre is one thing.  Guys like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy were going to respond no question.  The Lakers won that series in 6.  I don’t know if the Magic have that mentality and sometimes you know how this version of the Lake Show tend to not show up at times. 

To that point what happened last night was that the Team LA never let up off the pedal for one possession neither offensively or defensively.  They didn’t even allow the Magic to gain any confidence by making a small run at the end of the fourth quarter to take with them into the next game.  I have always said about this team that if they play this hard and focused every night they are easily THE best team in the NBA.  Even if the Magic had connected on more of those 3’s that they were hoisting, LA would have still won by 15. 

There is a lot more basketball to be played.  For the Lakers to get Game 2 would really put something on Orlando’s mind.  If the Magic could steal game 2, they will forget all about the blowout.  I hope my team understands that.