LOS ANGELES - Prior to the start of Sunday night's game, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Phil Jackson told the assembled media not to expect Game 2 to bear any sort of resemblance to its barely competitive predecessor.

And it's not just because Orlando now faces the unpleasant prospect of needing to win four of the final five games to take the series, something only three teams in NBA history have managed to accomplish. It's because the Magic overcame their Game 1 jitters, corrected many (albeit, not all) of their mistakes from the series opener and found themselves with a golden opportunity to take home-court advantage away from L.A.

And they still lost.

"Right now, it's extremely frustrating not to have gotten tonight because I thought we fought hard," Orlando's head coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We had chances to win. We didn't get it done."

"It's most definitely heartbreaking when you feel like you had a chance to win this game and you let it slip right out of your hands, especially playing on their home court," Lewis said after his game-high 34 points still weren't enough to even the series.

"We most definitely wanted to get this win, take home-court advantage back to Orlando. ... But the ball didn't bounce our way."

No, it didn't. It bounced harmlessly off the front of the rim as time ran out in regulation. And as those final ticks of the clock expired, likely so did Orlando's best shot at winning the series.

Courtney Lee's last-second layup should have been the perfect ending to a thoroughly redemptive night for the Magic.

Turkoglu and Lewis had atoned for their off shooting night in Game 1, taking turns scorching the Lakers. Lewis kept the Magic in the game early, scoring 18 of his 34 points in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Turkoglu was nearly perfect in the third quarter, when he poured in 14 of his 22 and the Magic erased the Lakers' 40-35 halftime lead.

Howard, while still struggling some against a relentless Lakers defense, had a much more typical night (17 points and 16 rebounds). So, too, did the maddeningly inconsistent Andrew Bynum (five points and one rebound). As a result, L.A.'s considerable advantages in rebounding and points in the paint in Game 1 were negated in Game 2, as Orlando held a slight edge in both categories.

And with the game tied at 88 with 0.6 of a second left, Van Gundy was about to make up for his questionable decision not only to play Jameer Nelson in Game 1, but to leave him in for the entire second quarter.

Van Gundy's decision to play the final 8:59 of regulation without a true point guard in the lineup had already been validated, as the Magic hung with the Lakers and the game's best closer down the stretch. Putting the lengthy Turkoglu — who isn't exactly known for his defensive prowess — on Byrant was a surprisingly deft move as well, as the 6-foot-10 small forward blocked Kobe's potential game-winner in the final second.

But Van Gundy had saved his best trick for last, drawing up an inbounds play that caught the Lakers completely off guard. While Bryant's attention was being held by the shooters on the perimeter, his man, Lee, broke for the basket. And though Turkoglu's crosscourt lob wasn't perfect, it was close enough that a single thought went through Bryant's mind.

"S***."

Only Lee drifted ever so slightly under the basket, Pau Gasol was able to recover just enough perhaps to throw off the rookie's concentration, and the shot that could have changed the course of the series will in all likelihood be little more than a footnote to a Lakers' championship.

"I was happy he missed it," Gasol said. "I was obviously relieved when he missed that shot because it could have been a heartbreaker, and right now we could be in a totally different situation."

Gasol is right. The situation could have been totally different Sunday. For much of the night, it was.

But unfortunately for the Magic, the more things changed, the more they stayed the same.