They're Playing Basketball (but not well)

Kobe's late miss continues Lakers' slide as Magic hold on to win
Associated Press

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Dwight Howard was barking in the locker room, mocking some Lakers he claimed called his Orlando Magic team "puppies."

Out on the court, the Magic showed they can bite.

Vince Carter had 25 points, Howard finished with 15 points and 16 rebounds and the Magic beat the Lakers 96-94 on Sunday to hand Los Angeles its first three-game losing streak of the Pau Gasol-Kobe Bryant Era.

"Alpha dogs usually have the big bark," Howard said afterward. "But since we're so-called puppies, we won't bark as loud."

Carter made his first 13 free throws and kept the Magic in control, showing why Orlando made the move for the eight-time All-Star after losing to the Lakers in last year's finals.

Throw feisty Matt Barnes into the mix to add some physicality, and the Magic finally got some reprieve from the sting of finals failure that has yet to wash away.

"You could see it in everybody's faces and everybody's demeanor," Carter said. "Everybody on that floor wanted to win that game. It wasn't just, 'Yeah, OK, whatever.' It was, 'Let's go get it.' That game was Game 7."

Bryant played through a minor stomach illness to score 34 points, and Gasol added 20 for the Lakers. But they all walked to the locker room distraught and dejected after Bryant missed a 20-footer at the buzzer to seal their latest loss.

Even being in the same locker room where they toasted to the title trophy, there might not be a time this season that champagne-soaked championship celebration last June felt so distant.

"There are some things that, as an experienced team, we should not have happen to us," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "Those are the things we try to remedy, but today we were just a little bit off."

Here's a sad reality check for Dwight Howard. This isn't about him. It's not about the Magic. All the talking heads will want to talk about today is the Lakers losing three straight. Congratulations Orlando. You're still not that relevant. Now let the grown ups talk. It became painfully obvious during this road trip that things were slipping away for the Lakers. The strong bench presence during the first half of the season is eroding. Lamar Odom isn't playing up to snuff and all the stories from a week ago about Ron Artest finding his defensive edge again have LITERALLY gone to his head.





But this is the kind of thing that can be fixed and I knew there had to be a mini slump at some point. And if a few pretenders want to take advantage in the meantime then go ahead. Don't think the Lakers aren't taking names. The Magic can go ahead an join the Nuggets on the naughty list. Especially you Matt Barnes. You pissed off the wrong guy.