Lakers and Magic went head-to-head in game two of the NBA Finals.
The Lakers battled it out to win in overtime. (NBA.com)

This post originally appeared on Kevin Patra's website thesportsunion.com

Game 2 of the NBA Finals had 22 lead changes; fortunately for the Los Angeles Lakers they ended on the positive side of the 22nd change, defeating the Orlando Magic 101-96 in overtime.

Kobe Bryant buried an 11-foot fade-away over the outstretched hand of 6-foot 10-inch Hedo Turkoglu to give the Lakers a 92-91 lead they would never relinquish. Bryant led the Lakers with 29 points and 8 assists. Twenty-three of his points came in the second half after he played the role of facilitator in the first half, scoring just six points.

"We know how to play close games," Bryant told ABC in a post-game interview.

The overtime game demonstrated that the Lakers' mettle has improved from last season's Finals and that the team was able to overcome a problematic playoff trend where they played poorly after big wins. They were able to fight off some big baskets by the Magic to force overtime.

Turkoglu made a deep 2-point basket with under a minute to play in regulation to give the Magic a two-point lead. Derek Fisher then drove the lane and had a pass tipped by center Dwight Howard. However, the Lakers got a fortunate bounce as the ball deflected off Howard right to Pau Gasol for an easy lay-in to tie the game.

After an Orlando miss the Lakers called timeout with just under 10 seconds to set up for what they hoped would be a final chance to win the game. With time running down, Bryant passed up a long 3-point attempt, blew by Turkoglu and pulled up in the lane for a jumper but was blocked from behind by Turkoglu. After consulting replay the refs added .6 seconds back on the clock, enough time for the Magic to run one play. Turkoglu inbounded on an alley-oop pass to guard Courtney Lee. Lee caught the pass but put the ball too hard off the glass as the buzzer sounded.

"We missed it," said Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy of his teams chance to win in regulation. "Great pass, it was right there and he missed it."

After a blowout in Game 1, the Magic's shooters began making shots and created the nip-and-tuck game throughout the second half.

Rashard Lewis scored 18 of his team-high 34 points in the second quarter, which kept the Magic within five at halftime. The third quarter belonged to Turkoglu, who scored 17 of his 22 points in the session, sparking the Magic to a 65-63 lead going into the fourth quarter.

"We've got to close out close to them," Bryant said of Lewis and Turkoglu. "You got to be literally in their jersey when they shoot the basketball."

After shooting a pathetic 29.9 percent from the field in Game 1 the Magic shot a respectable 41.8 percent in game 2. While they shot only 33.3 percent from behind the 3-point arch, the timeliness of their makes helped immensely.

"Their 3-point shots seemed to flourish tonight," said Lakers coach Phil Jackson. "Even though they shot 33 percent it still kept them in the game"

However, it was a key old-fashioned 3-point play that gave the Lakers a big advantage in overtime.

Leading by three, Bryant came off a high screen from Gasol. Getting into the lane he drew three defenders before he dropped the ball off to a cutting Gasol. Gasol made the lay-up and drew the foul. He sunk the free throw to give the Lakers a 6-point lead, which against the 3-point-happy Magic gave the Lakers an important two-possession lead with only 1:14 left in overtime.

Bryant had plenty of help during his quiet first half as seven Lakers scored two or more field goals in the opening half. Gasol and Odom each played an important roll for the Lakers offense. Gasol ended up with a double-double, 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Odom put up 19 points off the bench in 46 minutes of play.

The next three games will be played in Orlando, a challenge that was not lost on Laker players.

"We know how it is to play on the road in the Finals having played in Boston last year," Laker Forward Lamar Odom said. "We need to take it possession by possession."

Gasol echoed the same sentiments and underscored the determination of this years Laker team.

"We're in good position now," he said. "But we haven't done anything, we won our two games."

Now the Lakers just need to win two more.