Orlando

The Lakers barely survived despite some shoddy performances at both ends of the court.

Rashard Lewis took full advantage of his several open looks to score a game-high 34 points. It was Lewis who kept the Magic in the game during the first half, and Lewis who also knocked down a couple of critical buckets in the endgame.

LESSON: Odom was the primary culprit here. While Odom brought his A-game on offense, he tended to be hypnotized by the ball on defense — to the point of absolutely losing track of where Lewis was on several sequences. Odom must concentrate on tagging Lewis and offer interior defensive help only when Lewis is at least two passes away from the ball.

Hedo Turkoglu's pull-up/step-back jumpers going left were devastating. This was true when Turkoglu was anywhere from 15-25 feet away from the rim.

LESSON: His defender must keep a body on Turkoglu whenever possible, even to the point of allowing him to drive into the paint. L.A. is better off making Turkoglu a finisher under pressure than allowing him to unleash his pet stop-pop-and-fade jumpers.

How many times did one of the visitors — usually either Howard or Lewis — split a double-team and get off an easy shot?

LESSON: The double-teams must be tighter.

For most of the game, the Lakers' interior rotations were sloppy. To make matters worse, their perimeter rotations and close-outs were even worse.

LESSON: These flaws were all about insufficient effort. Fortunately for the Lakers, they were able to ratchet up their defense both in the endgame and in the extra period — but they were playing with fire. To avoid losing control of the series, they absolutely must play precise and energetic defense from the opening tip in Game 3.

Kobe was unable to take full advantage of J.J. Redick's below-par defense. For the most part, Bryant was content to set up with his back to the basket in a mid-wing area and beg for the ball. But Redick routinely fronted or three-quartered Kobe, thereby either denying him the ball or disrupting the timing of the play so that Bryant could easily be two-timed when he did receive a pass.

LESSON: When Redick opposes Kobe, the Lakers must avoid employing a static set and simply let the triangle offense evolve. One of the basic advantages of the triangle is that, through its constant cutting and passing, a weak defender's flaws will always become costly.

In the endgame, Turkoglu's large-sized defense just about stifled Kobe.

LESSON: Rather than just trying to take Turkoglu one-on-one, Kobe should be presented with a mid-to-high screen set up by Fisher. Since Fisher is strong enough to at least create a formidable obstacle for Turkoglu to deal with, the Magic should be compelled to switch. As a result, Kobe would be opposed by either Alston or Nelson.

And here's a lesson to be learned by the next trio of blind mice that the NBA will throw on the floor in Game 3: At least one of the refs should always track the ball when it's in the vicinity of the rim. Imagine how the failure to notice Howard's hand going through the basket to block an early layup by Gasol would have played out had the Magic won the game either by a deuce in regulation or in the OT.

One team will earn an honor-roll citation in Game 3. But in order for every participant to earn a passing grade, there's a whole lot of crash studying to be done.