The first time that the Orlando Magic faced the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008-2009 season, the Magic came away with a 106-103 win. The game fell into the hands of the Magic after the Lakers surrendered a big halftime lead.

The second meeting of the season was no different. Early in the game both teams were solid. Kobe Bryant worked hard finding his teammates for the open baskets and the Lakers jumped out front to an 8 point half time lead.

After coming out of the locker room for the third quarter, the Lakers built up to a 10 point lead, but not for long. The Orlando Magic, full of plenty of weapons, the kind of weapons that set an NBA record 23 three pointers against Sacramento the other night, came charging back. Before the third quarter even ended, the Magic managed to jump out to a 9 point lead.

Thankfully, Kobe and Lamar Odom would have none of it and did everything they could to keep the Lakers in the contest. They came up with a quick run of their own and the game was once again in the hands of the Lakers. Pau Gasol put the Lakers ahead to close the third quarter on a buzzer beating tip in.

By the time the fourth quarter started, Kobe Bryant already had his 15th career triple double. The game was a great one for Kobe, to say the least, and the fans definitely enjoyed the show. Kobe finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.

The fourth quarter was another close one as the Lakers fought hard to keep the Magic away. Kobe drew double teams on almost every play but practically none of his team members responded. They kept passing up shots and missing the easy shots they did take. Kobe was forced to take control and he did a decent job at it keeping the Lakers either ahead or close throughout the quarter.

Lamar Odom came up big in the 4th quarter as well as he managed to drive past defenders regularly and put in either an easy layup or get two foul shots. It’s a bit unfortunate that his free throw shooting is poor, to say the least, as he shot only 4-8 from the charity stripe. It would be nice to see him improving his shooting.

Pau Gasol also had a nice tipped offensive rebound to Lamar after Odom’s missed and one free throw with time winding down.

Jameer Nelson however was the hero on this night. He would hit two huge 3 pointers to give the Magic the lead and then four more free throws to put the game away. The combination of Nelson hitting the clutch shots, Kobe not being able to drop jumpers over the double teams, the Orlando Magic pulled out a big win at Staples Center over the Lakers.

The Lakers are now 1-2 in their tough 4 game stretch with the Cleveland Cavaliers coming up on Monday. Tonight’s loss truly came as an important lesson to the Lakers. I can’t beleive how many times I’ve said this, but the Lakers just can’t get out of their own way. What happens to the defender thats suppose to be gaurding the three point shooter thats always open? It just doesn’t make sense to me how every single team manages to expose the Lakers in the final seconds of the game. How is there always a wide open three point shooter that hits the go ahead shot over the Lakers?

I really thought this would be a fun game as Kobe put together the triple double in three quarters, but the ending of the game wasn’t so pretty.

You’ve got to give it up to the Orlando Magic though. For the first time in the history of the franchise, they have swept the regular season series against the Los Angeles Lakers. They have shown that they have what it takes to play with their backs up against the wall, with crunch time looking them in the eye, and with the crowd cheering against them. They are a strong team and are sure to make some noise when the playoffs roll around in a few months. I’m glad to see that whichever team does make it out of the Eastern Conference alive, will be quite exhausted as the three top teams and a quiet under the radar Detroit Pistons, will dual it out til the end.