Now we have a series.

At home and at a place where they feel comfortable, away from the limelight of Hollywood, the Magic finally snapped their six-game winless streak in the NBA Finals dating back to 1995 when the team was swept by Hakeem Olajuwon and the Houston Rockets and a young Shaquille O’Neal was still the man in the middle for Orlando.

Thanks to a hot-shooting night to the tune of an NBA Finals record 63% field-goal percentage, the Orlando Magic got their first ever win in the Last Dance, 108-104. Headed by the scintillating performance of Rafer Alston who got 20 points, four other Magic players scored 18 points or more. Dwight Howard had 21 points, 11 coming from the free-throw line as the Lakers front line continue to pummel him down low.

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 31 points. When Kobe had 17 points in the first quarter, I thought he was on fire again just like in Game 1 when he torched the Magic for 40 points. But with a stifling defense from Mickael Pietrus and Courtney Lee, he was limited to 14 points the rest of the way. He even missed 5 free-throws!

Game 4 is on June 11, Thursday at the Amway Arena, Orlando, Florida. Here’s the Philippine TV schedule.

HALFTIME SHOW: It was a lousy performance from a group called Tic and Tac All-Stars where a bunch of guys are doing some dance routines to a music played by a drummer. What a bunch of clowns. I hope they’ll just invite Mickey Mouse next time.

Please read my related posts:

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Tags: 2009 NBA finals, la lakers, NBA, orlando magic