He Wants the Trophy, the Victory, the Glory

by Ryne Nelson What can you say after such complete domination? What’s to discuss when every moment in Game 1 of the NBA Finals belonged to the Lakers? The Magic were embarrassed. They were so thoroughly beat, in fact, that scapegoat talk was even abandoned. Jameer Nelson didn’t “throw off” the team’s chemistry. The entire Orlando squad performed at a sub-par level in no small part due to the tremendous play of the Lakers. “Clearly, after the first quarter, we were totally dominated at both ends of the floor and on the boards,” Van Gundy said. “There was nothing I liked. . . . What was there to like?” Searching for inspiration after the game, Van Gundy mentioned the “Memorial Day Massacre” in which the Lakers were drilled by 34 points by Boston in Game 1 of the 1985 Finals but came back to win the series in six games. As Van Gundy tried to point out to his dejected team, comebacks after major beatdowns happened befor...