Lakers-Magic: Los Angeles Wears Down Orlando in Overtime

The fans at the Staples Center knew that the Orlando Magic had the tenacity to rebound from their 100-75 pratfall in Game One of the 2009 NBA Finals. Some wanted this to be a back-and-forth series.

And the Magic had their chance to make it a best-of-five.

They failed, in dramatic overtime fashion.

It took Kobe Bryant about three quarters to deliver in the clutch, but he did, with 29 points and eight assists, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-96 overtime victory in Game Two.

This time, it was the supporting cast that outplayed the Magic's triple threat of Dwight Howard (17 points, 16 rebounds), Hedo Turkoglu (22 points, six rebounds), and Rashard Lewis (playoff-high 34 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists).

Aside from Bryant, Pau Gasol scored 24 points with 10 rebounds and Derek Fisher added 12 points to pace the starters.

The catalyst of the victory, however, was Lamar Odom. His 19 points and eight rebounds were crucial to LA's victory.

Ironically, the series should be 1-1, had it not been for a blown buzzer-beating alley-oop attempt by Courtney Lee. He would have finished with four points for the game, half of those would have given home court advantage to Orlando.

Phil Jackson's club, donning their Sunday whites, dominated the Magic from the charity stripe (86 percent to 74 percent), and out shot the Magic (46 percent to 42 percent) for the entire game. Orlando made more three-pointers (ten to Los Angeles's five) and crashed with 44 rebounds.

With the victory, the Lakers head into Amway Arena with an air of confidence. For Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy, it's gut check time for his ball club.

Game Three is scheduled for Tuesday at 9:00 PM ET and will be televised by ABC.