The Los Angeles Lakers prevailed in Game 2 of the NBA Finals 101-96 , due in large part to some suspect officiating all game on Dwight Howard post-ups.  The Lakers now have a comfortable 2-0 lead in the series.

The Magic played well enough to test the Lakers and push them to overtime, however, there were two key elements that held Orlando back from achieving a split in L.A.:

Free Throw Shooting – Orlando shot 20-27 for the game from the charity stripe.  You might say that’s not bad.  But they are a really good FT shooting team – and the ones they missed were crucial.  5 of their 7 free throw misses came in the 4th quarter, which kept the Lakers within striking range – - and they ultimately took over in OT.

Reach-in No-Calls – I can’t remember watching so many no-calls on reach-in plays in any game – pre-season, regular season or post-season.  Every single time that Dwight Howard made a drive into the paint (with Gasol or Bynum defending), at least one of the Lakers would be around to provide defensive help in the form of reaching in to slap the ball away.

Here’s the way NBA officiating works:  If the offensive player is a star, the obvious calls (reach-ins) and non-obvious calls (attempted charges) go their way.  From this, one would have to assume that Dwight Howard has not yet been tagged as a star.  Time and time again he was slapped on the arms, wrists, and hands and the zebras held onto their whistles.

Based on this observation, Howard’s game never got off of the ground.  The Magic were valiant in their effort – and Rashard Lewis (31 points) and Hedo Turkoglu (22 points) found their touch tonight.  But the lost possessions (Howard ended up with 7 turnovers – Orlando had 20 total TOs) resulting from the inactive men in stripes were too much to overcome in the end game.

The only standout part of the Lakers game was Lamar Odom.  ”Sweets” stepped up his intensity level big time with 19 points (8-9 FG), 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  If L.A. can get this production from “The Goods” every night, everything would come much easier for them.

Look for the Lakers to lose their intensity in Game 3 in Orlando.  If there’s one thing that the Lakers have proven throughout this playoff run, it’s that they cannot maintain consistent levels of focus and energy.

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