/ AP

Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, left, fights to keep possession against Magic guard Rafer Alston during the second half of Game 1 of the NBA finals.

Bryant had 12 points in the second quarter and 18 in the third to help break the game open. He drove hard to the hole. He pulled up for jumpers. He scorched whichever defender was up on him. He had one of those tone-setters.

The question is, did he set the tone just for Thursday, or for the entire finals?

"Well, he had the smell, and he found kind of the angle of what he wanted to do out there on the floor and carried that game into the second half, just carried the game his way," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "I thought we went there a little bit too often, but he said, 'Keep coming back. I'm OK.' So we did."

The Lakers also got 16 points and eight rebounds from Pau Gasol, 11 points and 14 boards from Lamar Odom, and even young center Andrew Bynum had an impressive game with nine points and nine rebounds. Los Angeles outscored the Magic in the paint, 56-22.

Still, this was another episode of the Kobe Bryant Show. He didn't need LeBron to prod him. He didn't need Dwight Howard with a cape and a big "S" on his chest. He just needed the memory of last year's finals, which ended about as sourly as it can end in Lakers Nation — a blowout in Boston at the hands of the Celtics.

"It's a lot of motivation, a lot of motivation," Bryant said. "I'm using it all right now."

Said Odom: "I mean, offensively, there isn't anything he can't do. If he's serious before the game, if he's talkative or playful, with him it doesn't matter. We understand how much he wants this, how bad he wants to win this championship. We all want it. Kobe is a very focused person."

Van Gundy seemed to think it was about strategy, and suggested some tweaks here and there for Game 2. "The one thing I thought was bad, both from a coaching standpoint and from an execution standpoint, was our pick-and-roll defense on him.

"I think that's something we need to look at."

But there's more to it than that. It's in that expression on Bryant's face, which these days is mostly expression-less.

"He does have his game face on," Odom said. "He's ready. He's prepared."

And by extension, it seems, so are the Lakers.

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Jim Rogash / Getty Images

Not in his house

Rajon Rondo had 18 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 85-75 in Game 7 on Saturday night to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

CSN: Rondo's big-game DNA shines  |  Highlights

CSN: You may not see it from start to finish, but when the game — or in this case, postseason life — is on the line, you see just how good Rajon Rondo can be.

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