NBA Finals Game 2: The Blame Game

The Los Angeles Lakers won Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

The Orlando Magic lost Game 2.

Make no mistake, the Lakers played good, not great, but certainly better than Orlando. They executed better than the Magic offensively in overtime, made their free throws down the stretch (the Lakers made their final 14 free throw attempts), and came up with some big stops defensively late in the game.

But despite all that, Orlando had a chance to win. They had the opportunity to steal a game on the Lakers home floor and blew it. And this time, unlike in Game 1, it wasn't because the Lakers were too good. It was because Orlando wasn't good enough.

Stan Van Gundy was clear postgame press conference, saying that the Orlando Magic both win and lose as a team. He's right; it wouldn't be fair to but this loss on any one player. There was plenty of blame to go around after this one.

Blame it on...

Courtney Lee

The rookie missed two lay-ups in the final 10 seconds of regulation that would have given the Magic the lead. In an eerie coincidence, it was exactly 14 years to the day that Nick Anderson missed four free throws down the stretch that cost Orlando a chance to win Game 1 of that series against Houston. Much Like Anderson's free throws, Lee's blown opportunities in the final seconds could haunt Orlando fans with its "what if" implications for years to come.

The Magic Guards

Rafer Alston missed all four of his three pointers in Game 2, making him 0-8 for the series, and just 3-17 from the field in the first two games. Not that his replacements were any better. Jameer Nelson had just 4 points and 1 assist in 17 minutes. J.J. Redick played a surprising 27 minutes, yet yielded only two baskets, and was just 1-of-6 from deep. Mickael Pietrus had more fouls (6) than he had points, assists, rebounds, blocks, and steals combined (5).

Dwight Howard

Howard became just the second player in NBA playoff history to amass at least 15 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals, and 3 blocks in a playoff game. The other was Hakeem Olajuwon. Yet for as brilliant as Howard's box score may look on paper, it fails to tell the story of his game.

It wasn't just his team-high seven turnovers that hurt the Magic, it was the fact that Howard went the entire second quarter and the entire fourth quarter without making a field goal. He scored just one basket in the final 18 minutes of play. That is simply unacceptable for a superstar. Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis may have been having good games offensively, but so were Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Kobe still managed to find a way to score seven of the last nine Lakers points in regulation. That's what superstars do.

Dwight Howard may be one of the most physically gifted players to enter the NBA in many years, but until he figures out how to take over the fourth quarter of a game, he'll never be anything more than an all-star center. There's nothing wrong with being an all-star center, but it doesn't come with the jewelry that Superman covets.

Free Throw Shooting

The Magic were a somewhat respectable 74% from the free throw line (20-of-27) for the game, but once again, the box score is slightly misleading. During a crucial three-minute stretch, the final 1:30 of the third quarter and the first 1:30 of the fourth quarter, the Magic missed five consecutive free throws.

At the start of that stretch, Orlando led by one point. At the end of that stretch, the game was tied. The Magic had a chance to make it a two possession game by just making their free throws. Instead, they allowed the Lakers to hang around in a tie game instead of forcing them to play from behind.

In the NBA playoffs, trailing two games to none is practically a death sentence. Teams in Orlando's position have gone on to lose the series 94% of the time. That's why Sunday's overtime loss will hurt much worse than the 25 point loss in Game 1. The Magic had no business winning Game 1; they had no business losing Game 2.

The Magic were a missed layup on a brilliant out of bounds play from stealing home-court away from the Lakers and taking all the momentum back to Space Mountain with them. Now, they'll have to climb Mt. Everest if they want to come back in this series and take home their first NBA title in franchise history.

Visit Sports Central each day after every NBA Finals game to read Scott Shepherd's immediate reaction to the game. You can also follow Scott before, during, and after every NBA Finals game on Twitter at twitter.com/scottosports.