In the 20 years there has been a pro basketball team in the city of Orlando, the most magical thing in town has remained a castle, with Mickey and Minnie nearby.
But in this 20th go-around, the wands seem to be working. This edition of the Orlando Magic may finally be the one to pull an NBA title out of a hat.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, January 18, 2009 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 39 words Type of Material: Correction
Lakers: In Saturday's Sports section, Bill Dwyre's column on the Lakers-Orlando Magic game said Kobe Bryant made the basket that put the Lakers up, 103-101. Bryant missed the shot and Pau Gasol followed with a basket off the rebound.
For the men of Coach Stan Van Gundy, and star player Dwight Howard, the roller coaster has had few dips. This time, the parade down Main Street could be about tall guys, not dwarfs.
Oh, there were the seasons of Shaq in the early 1990s, and a run to the NBA Finals in 1995, where they lost in four games to Houston. You remember how that turned out. The place wasn't big enough for the Diesel and Penny Hardaway, so Shaq came to the Lakers and proved that this place wasn't big enough, either, for him and Kobe.
Hard lessons for Mr. O'Neal. No matter where he went, it appeared to be a small world after all.
But the departure of Shaq brought a return to a tendency toward brief appearances by Orlando in the playoffs.
Last season, the Magic went out in the second round to the Pistons, but at least one astute observer wasn't fooled that that meant more of the same.
"They showed signs of this last season," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said. "They had a good road record, and they seemed to learn from their playoff experiences."
So it came to pass in the kingdom of Staples Center on Friday night that the team from the East had a real opportunity to see how rocky this ride to the NBA title might be. The Magic brought its 31-8 record in to play the Lakers, best in the league at 31-7 and everybody's choice to be in the Finals again this June.
The Magic has hurdles to clear named Celtics and Cavaliers just to get there. The Lakers, in the minds of most, must clear just one. Boredom.
That wasn't likely to be an issue for the Lakers this night. In the only other game they will play against the Magic in the regular season, they lost Dec. 20 in Orlando, 106-103. A last-second three-pointer by Sasha Vujacic missed in that one.
In the first half, the Lakers had more up their sleeve, taking a 52-44 lead into the locker room. The Magic, used to living off three-point bombs and rugged center play from Howard, got outdone in both areas.
Los Angeles dropped in five of 12 three-pointers, including three of five by Vladimir Radmanovic and another from Derek Fisher in the closing seconds that built the lead to eight. Orlando made four of 12.
