NBA Playoffs Tuesday Night Viewing Guide: We’ve Seen The Kobe Bryant From Last Night Before

The Kobe Bryant we saw last night against the Suns? It was the same Kobe Bryant we saw in Game 1 of the Finals last year.

by Mike Prada

May 18, 2010, 9:41 PM UTC

No lottery talk here. For more of that, go here.

I’ve been too busy thinking about the lottery, so if someone else made this connection, please point me there. I honestly didn’t see it out there, and that surprises me a bit, considering the games were so similar.

But in watching Kobe Bryant last night, it hit me - I've seen that Kobe Bryant before. In fact, I've seen that Kobe Bryant recently. As recently as ... Game1 against the Magic last year. Need a reminder?

The similarities between those two performances are uncanny. In both games, Kobe scored 40 points in basically three quarters. In both games, his team was going up against an opponent that many people felt could challenge the Lakers. In both cases, Kobe lay back for a while, then smelled blood and went for the kill. (Sorry for the cliche, but it's true). In both games, Kobe did it against capable wing defenders (Courtney Lee and Mickael Pietrus last year, Grant Hill and Jared Dudley this year). In both games, once Kobe got going, nobody could stop him.

But here's the scariest part for a Suns fan: in both cases, the Lakers won in a blowout. Sure, there were other reasons the Suns weren't competitive last night, but let's be real, none were as big as Kobe Bryant. It was as if Kobe himself heard and read all the stuff about how well the Suns were playing, how their wing defenders could slow him down better than the Jazz and how they were the new darlings of the league, and decided to personally put a stop to it.

Nowhere was this more evident than after Dudley checked into the game. Dudley is a wonderful, cheerful guy who has done a great job finding his niche in the league, both on and off the court. He's a fan favorite for all the right reasons. But he also said on Bill Simmons' podcast that Kevin Durant, and not Kobe, was his toughest cover. An innocent comment, to be sure, but Kobe played like he heard it. As I tweeted at the time, he really attacked Dudley off the dribble, as if to say, 'You think I'm not the toughest cover in the league? Prove it.' Dudley didn't exactly fail - nobody was going to be able to guard Kobe that night - but he didn't exactly succeed either. And with that, Kobe struck the first blow.

It’ll be very interesting to see how Phoenix responds to Kobe’s first shot. Orlando had chances to win Games 2 and 4, but didn’t get it done and lost in five games. They played the entire series from behind, and while they competed, the Lakers were never really in danger. Kobe planted that doubt in the Magic’s mind right off the bat, and the Magic never recovered. Now, he’s done the same to the Suns, and I’m not sure they can recover either.

As for tonight’s game, I think the Magic can recover. Let’s break it down.

Boston Celtics at Orlando Magic: Game 2, 8:00 p.m., ESPN

Game 1 in one sentence: Boston's stifling defense thwarted Dwight Howard and the rest of the Magic in a Game 1 upset.

Problem the Magic must solve to win: They need to get Dwight Howard going. To do that, they'll need to do everything that SB Nation's Magic blog Orlando Pinstriped Post suggests here. The whole thing is a must-read, but in a nutshell, they should involve Howard in more pick and rolls against Kendrick Perkins while running more classic post-ups against Rasheed Wallace.

Problem the Celtics must solve to win again: About the only thing I can say here is that they need to limit Orlando’s three-point shot attempts like they did in Game 1. That’s right, shot attempts. Orlando will hit threes, and they had some good looks in Game 1, but as long as you can run them off the three-point line like Boston did in Game 1, you’ll succeed.

Totally inconsequential thing I want to see happen: Brian Scalabrine playing. That is all.