“It’s only one game.”

The announcers said it early and often after Game 1 of the NBA finals, a 100-75 thumping by the favored Los Angeles Lakers over the Orlando Magic. The analysts said it after the game, and for all I know the prehistoric monsters in those ubiquitous promos for the Will Ferrell movie, Land of the Lost, were saying it, too. Of course, anyone associated with ESPN/ABC had good reason to say it. If a casual fan were to tune in hoping for a bellwether on the series and saw a 25-point rout, he or she might be tempted to do something else on Sunday.

Nevertheless, it is true; it’s only one game. Game 1 of the NBA finals is often a blowout. Nine times in the last 10 years, the home team (i.e. the higher seed) has won Game 1 of the finals, and in 7 out of those 9 wins, the margin of victory was in double digits. The only two nominally close games, the San Antonio Spurs’ 85-76 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2007 and the Lakers’ 99-94 win over the New Jersey Nets in 2002, were the start of the four-game sweeps. Even the extreme 25-point margin of victory should offer little reassurance. As Magic Johnson pointed out, his Lakers were pounded by 34 in the game often known as the Memorial Day Massacre against the Boston Celtics in 1985. Yet the Lakers rebounded to win Game 2 and the series. The last team to lose Game 1 of the finals by a margin this extreme was the 1992 Portland Trail Blazers, who lost their opener to the Chicago Bulls, 122-89. The Blazers came back and won Game 2 115-104.

All that said it’s still much better to be only three wins from a championship parade than four. And if Orlando doesn’t make substantial adjustments for Sunday night’s contest, they will be down 2-0 heading back to Florida for Game 3 on Tuesday.

Most of the time, a basketball game is won in the lane, the painted area near the rim.

Even the very best outside shooters hit only half of their shots from the distance. Also, since most teams shoot about 45 percent or so from the field, rebounding is essential to either gain second opportunities or deny them to opponents. For those reasons, the team that controls the paint usually wins the game, and on Thursday night, Los Angeles owned the lane so thoroughly that at times I thought it was painted blue and gold and emblazoned with images of past greats of the Los Angeles Lakers.