Kobe Bryant sinks his teeth into the Magic in Game 1

Enough about his tumbling jumpers, his tentacle defense, his towering rebounds, his touch passing.

Did you see his teeth?

The story of the NBA Finals opener Thursday could be found in Kobe Bryant's mouth.

Seriously, did you see his teeth?

During the Lakers' 100-75 victory over the Orlando Magic, Bryant openly ground them as he ground his way to 40 points.

He visibly clenched them as he fought for eight rebounds and flicked out eight assists.

He bared them as he bared his soul.

"I just want it so bad," he said quietly. "I just want it really bad."

If, indeed, there was any question about how deeply this quest burns inside the Lakers' best player, the answer surfaced in a flaming glare that made it seem as if he wanted to not only beat the Magic, but bite them.

Championship choppers.

"We've seen that before," said teammate Sasha Vujacic, shaking his head. "He does that when he really wants to get going."

We've all seen it before, but have we ever really seen it like this? Over the last 13 years here, Kobe Bryant has looked at me with every virtual shade of anger and intensity, but he's never looked at me, or anybody else I know, like that.

"You just put everything you have into the game and your emotions kind of flow out of you," he said, also quietly.

Those emotions began to flow midway through the second quarter, when the Magic, although clearly outmatched, held a one-point lead.

"Then Kobe started making his shots, and it was like there was nothing we could do about it," said the Magic's Rashard Lewis.

Bryant's jumper gave the Lakers the lead. Then he made another jumper. Then he sneaked behind Hedo Turkoglu and stole a rebound.

He found Derek Fisher for a three-pointer. He made a turnaround, fallaway jumper. He made another jumper that ended in hand-extended pose.

He found Lamar Odom for a layup. He found Pau Gasol for a jumper. He made a spinning layup with four seconds left in the half.

The previous three paragraphs all occurred in the last 6:36 of the second quarter.

During that time, the Lakers outscored the Magic, 21-10, and Bryant had a hand in 19 of those 21 points.

"We did everything we could to stop him," said Magic rookie Courtney Lee, the poor young victim here. "But he would make a shot. And make a shot. And make a shot."