ESPN NBA

The Orlando Magic vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, live from Staples Center. Tonight's liveblogging has a special new twist: It's on Twitter and right here, both at the same time -- through the magic of the internet.

I have lined up a posse of basketball experts to share insights with us as we go. 

Game time is 9pm ET.

Henry Abbott Heading over now. Anyone still there?

Henry Abbott Thanks for a fun night. See you for Game 2 on Sunday.

Henry Abbott Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant team up for some brilliance. Hardly any triangle! Orlando wasn't ready for it. Will Lakers revert next game?

Henry Abbott Workshopping an idea: Anyone TrueHoop readers in L.A. want to meet at ESPN Zone by Staples? I'll swing by 10ish PT, see what's going on.

Henry Abbott Josh Powell hit that shot with 0.5 left. PA said "Final Score, 100 to 75." Referees signaled the end, and the clock ran down with dead ball.

Henry Abbott Mickael Pietrus in OT: Gunner extraordinaire.

Henry Abbott NBA Source: Lakers don't have matchup problems Cavs had. Magic have to be much better in half court, and solve pick and roll defense.

Henry Abbott Magic shooting 29% from 3, and it's almost better than how they're shooting from 2.

Henry Abbott Lakers +26 with Kobe in the game. Dwight Howard one of six from the floor.

Henry Abbott I'm a little surprised the Magic aren't using garbage time to get Jameer Nelson some time to get his rhythm back.

Henry Abbott NBA Source: "Winning game 2 in L.A. is a tall order for the Magic. But the series is over if they go down 0-2."

Henry Abbott Pressure's on the Magic to make people think differently.

Henry Abbott Here in Los Angeles, I think the general feeling is that this series is even more over now than it was a few hours ago.

Henry Abbott Remember when Aaron Brooks wore that insane red jacket? That's a regular day for Staples security.

Henry Abbott RT @espndb: missed 1st 10 2-pt attempts in 3rd quarter.

Henry Abbott Kareem Abdul Jabbar tweets: "Kobe's layup reminds me of me vs. the Celtics" @kaj33

Henry Abbott @DreAllDay A lot of teams get crazy about their people talking to the media, even if it's innocuous.

Henry Abbott Remember about five minutes ago I said I thought this game would be decided in the next five minutes? Lakers by 20.

Henry Abbott Somewhere LeBron James is saying that if Alston, Lee, Pietrus and Nelson could have gone 2-11 from downtown against them, Cavs'd be here.

Henry Abbott What was that Derek Fisher foul? Since when is getting picked against the rules?

Henry Abbott Rafer Alston can't buy a bucket. Magic point guards have not been magical at all.

Henry Abbott Both Thorpe and my super secret NBA Source feel Jameer Nelson, after a couple minutes, did not look good and has hurt the Magic.

Henry Abbott A lot of times a defender will be the last guy down the court. Surprising how seldom the offense makes them pay for that.

Henry Abbott @russbengtson Yup. Can't promise to source every item in 140 characters.

Henry Abbott Kevin Arnovitz points out the Lakers are walling off the paint when Hedo and Howard pick and roll.

Henry Abbott Can't prove this, but feels like the game is going to be won or lost in the next five minutes or so.

Henry Abbott Notice Kobe Bryant rubbing his hands on his shirt coming down the court? NBA balls are much easier to grip when damp -- he's getting sweat.

Henry Abbott Notice the Lakers aren't using so much triangle? NBA Source: Pick and roll kept ball in Kobe's hands. And their offense took off...

Henry Abbott Lakers have shot just two free throws. Magic are twelve of fourteen.

Henry Abbott Magic players who are not Jameer Nelson have a total of two assists. Nelson has four.

Henry Abbott Orlando has to hit 3s to win ... right now three of 11. Lakers even worse, at just one of four -- but it hurts them less.

Henry Abbott Right now listening to the marching band version of "I kissed a girl."

Henry Abbott Look it up on YouTube. NBA Source: "Can't help but feel Kobe is just probing thus far. Seems like an eruption is coming..."

Henry Abbott The half-time show I have seen a dozen times. Still blows my mind. The Red Panda.

Henry Abbott Points per 100 possessions for Lakers in first half: 112.8. Magic 93.5.

Henry Abbott Great quarter for the Lake Show. Laker fans, freshly arrived in their seats, are headed for the exits dancing.

Henry Abbott What % of Turkoglu's game is focused on drawing fouls? HUGE part of his game.

Henry Abbott Eric Neel says Lakers are 16-1 this season when Kobe Bryant has seven or more assists. Five already.

Henry Abbott Lewis, Howard ,Pietrus, Battie and Nelson shooting a combined five of 19.

Henry Abbott Kevin Arnovitz points out: Kobe Bryant has 15 attempts, and 0 free throws.

Henry Abbott NBA source: "Magic allowing Kobe 'comfort j's'. He'll kill them if they don't close out or hard show him more aggressively."

Henry Abbott Hedo and Stan Van Gundy just met with referees to complain that Turkoglu was fouled on that 3.

Henry Abbott Defenders always try to sneak from the baseline to double Howard and try to strip the ball. But they seldom get it.

Henry Abbott Lakers taking turns scoring on Courtney Lee. He's not a bad defender, but he's smaller than Walton and Bryant.

Henry Abbott Eric Neel points out that the Lakers want Lamar Odom to take the spot up 3 vs. Gortat. He much prefers to run into 3s.

Henry Abbott NBA source: "Not enough transition opportunities for Lakers this far. Magic have done a good job forcing them to run half court offense."

Henry Abbott Orlando's offense has been more organized with Nelson running the show.

Henry Abbott Jameer Nelson, not looking tentative in his first few minutes back.

Henry Abbott RT @espndb: At end of 1st quarter, Kobe's 3-9 shooting. Career in Gm1: 36.5%. More Kobe Research: http://bit.ly/9nliE

Henry Abbott David Thorpe says the Polish Hammer, Marcin Gortat, is good enough to start in the NBA. "He can block shots and contest them too."

Henry Abbott Pau Gasol guarded Dwight Howard for a second. Gasol dunked, then got Howard out of the game with a second foul.

Henry Abbott Nobody on media row likes Dwight Howard's second foul. "Floptastic" is the operative word.

Henry Abbott Thorpe points out Bynum is out with two fouls, but as they didn't post him early, they have lost their best chance at getting Howard fouls.

Henry Abbott Gasol is closing out hard on Rashard to take away the 3. Can Lewis make Gasol pay with the dribble?

Henry Abbott David Thorpe is surprised we have not seen more of Bynum in the post. Eric Neel points out when Bynum hits early, he keeps shooting.

Henry Abbott RT @JeanieBuss Stephon Marbury is sitting on the floor in a bedazzled jacket and shoes that look like reflective shoes from Star Trek!

Henry Abbott Turkoglu is giving Ariza a ton of room ... but in the playoffs, he has been a good 3-point shooter.http://tinyurl.com/moy9vt

Henry Abbott You know that Kobe Bryant kid is pretty good. He just might have a future for himself in this league.

Henry Abbott Lakers, points out Kevin Arnovitz, are VERY attentive to the perimeter.

Henry Abbott Lakers, like a lot
of defenses, are sending people baseline, but there's nobody there to meet the driver when he gets to the rim.

Henry Abbott One thing the Lakers have going for them: Length in the front court. (Bynum, Gasol, Mbenga, Odom, Walton, Ariza)

Henry Abbott I'd like to know Stan Van Gundy's master plan here: We could have some Redick. Or not.

Henry Abbott College basketball fans were hoping for that Adam Morrison vs. JJ Redick Finals matchup. Not tonight: Ammo is inactive.

Henry Abbott We have had the anthem, the intros ... and still must be 5,000 empty seats in here.

Henry Abbott Answer: Rafer Alston, Shannon Brown, Marcin Gortat, Anthony Johnson, and Jordan Farmar http://tinyurl.com/qfgyd5

Henry Abbott A little finals trivia. Know how many regular rotation players in this series have played in the D-League?

Henry Abbott Staples Center might be the only arena where the PA announcer says "it's eighteen minutes to tip off ... please take your seats."