The best season in Magic history ended with a 99-86 loss in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

As teammates filed to the locker room, Howard didn't budge. Finally, G Jameer Nelson came back to give him some company on the bench. The view from there had been great for the majority of this season. Now it's over.

"I went over to give him a hug," Nelson said. "He just wanted me to stay there with him. He's taking it hard. We all are."

Howard struggled offensively in the series, and had 11 points and 10 rebounds in Game 5.

Later in the locker room, Howard sat in his chair dejected. Nelson again came over and whispered a few words.

"It's tough on him," PG Rafer Alston said. "It's tough on everyone. He's the franchise player, but we're all hurting."

The Lakers ran off 16 straight points in the second quarter, built a 16-point lead early in the third and coasted to their 15th title.

It was Alston, and not the returning-from-injury Nelson, who was in during the entire second-quarter run that went from a 40-36 Magic lead to a 52-40 hole.

"We lost a little bit of our mental toughness, our mental edge at that point," Alston told the Orlando Sentinel.

Say what? The contract of Lakers coach Phil Jackson is up and he has hinted at retirement. Bryant doesn't believe it. "I think he's just more amused by everybody thinking that he's thinking that, if that makes any sense," he said.