Howard, Magic unshaken
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Back in his Clark Kent days, when he was an 18-year-old rookie, Dwight Howard was welcomed to the league by Kobe Bryant.
It wasn’t with a fist bump or handshake. It wasn’t friendly at all.
In his first game against Howard, Bryant drove the lane and delivered a ferocious dunk that still haunts Orlando’s center five years later.
“Don’t remind me,” Howard said, playfully covering his eyes. “He baptized me, brought me into the NBA and back to reality with one play.”
Thursday night, Bryant initiated Howard again, this time into the NBA finals.
Looking much more like The Man of Steel than Howard, Bryant scored 40 points, his most in a finals game, and the Lakers steamrolled to a 100-75 win in Game 1 over the Magic, who watched tape of the rout at their hotel before heading to Staples Center for practice Friday.
Howard understands he and his teammates have to do much more in Game 2 Sunday night.
The Magic are no strangers to adversity. They made it to the finals despite losing All-Star guard Jameer Nelson for 42 games because of a shoulder injury, and they came from behind against Philadelphia and Boston to win previous series this postseason. Against Cleveland in the Eastern Conference finals, the Magic shot their way back from impossible deficits.
They’re in another hole. It’s not deep. Not yet.
“It’s just one game,” said forward Hedo Turkoglu, who went just 3-of-11 from the floor. “It’s a long series. We’ve got a couple days to work on some things.”