7:15 AM
"What transpired Friday night at Amway Center almost could make an objective person feel sorry for Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Orlando Magic schooled 'em from start to finish.
Dwight Howard outplayed Andrew Bynum. Jameer Nelson bounced back from one of the worst games of his career. And the rest of the Magic looked like they were going full-speed while Bryant's teammates looked like they were sleepwalking.
The result: a 92-80 Orlando win over Los Angeles that might have made Shaquille O'Neal regret saying that Bynum was the NBA's best big man.
"Tonight's game was not about Andrew Bynum and Dwight Howard," Howard said afterward. "It was about the Magic and the Lakers, and that's the only thing that was on my mind: getting a win."
Yeah, right.
Howard's quickness forced Bynum into early foul trouble, and Howard finished with 21 points and 23 rebounds.
"I don't think he played any differently than what he's been playing," Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy said. "These are the kind of things he's been doing night-in and night-out."
Knowing that the Lakers (10-7) had played the night before, the Magic (11-4) just brought more energy.
Orlando took a double-digit lead with 3:51 left in the first quarter, ballooned that advantage to 23 points late in the second and led by double digits until Jason Kapono drilled a 3-pointer with 6:l9 left in regulation.
But 16 seconds later, the Lakers' momentum evaporated when Bryant was called for a technical foul for arguing an out-of-bounds call.
Nelson sank the ensuing free throw, and Jason Richardson took the ensuing inbounds pass and maneuvered past Bryant for an easy dunk to extend Orlando's lead to 77-66.
After Bryant missed a long 3, Ryan Anderson hit a 3-pointer, prompting the announced crowd of 18,846 to give a standing ovation.
"I think everybody came out with great energy," said Richardson, who played for the first time since he bruised a bone in his left knee Jan. 12. "We knew they were playing on a back-to-back and we could come out and have some energy and get up and down the court.""
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