Notes And Quotes – NBA Finals Game One

“I just want it so bad, that’s all. I just want it really bad.” – Kobe Bryant after scoring 40 points in game one.

“We’ve never had a shooting night this bad. We’ve just got to come out and play a lot harder than we did tonight.” – Dwight Howard after the Magic went 8 of 23 from three point range and just 30% from the floor.

“He was great. He was tremendous. We were giving him too much space on his pull-up jumpers and he did a good job of attacking us. I know this: We are a lot better than we showed.” – Stan Van Gundy on Kobe Bryant

“It’s just one game. It’s a long series. We’ve got a couple days to work on some things. We know how good we are, and we know what we need to do to win.” – Hedo Turkoglu after a 3-11 shooting night.

· Kobe’s 40 points were a career high for him in the NBA Finals and the 10th time he’s scored 40 in the playoffs.

No Durant = No Chance For Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a hard enough time winning games as it is but when you remove their leading scorer then winning becomes impossible. Kevin Durant averages 22 points a night for the Thunder and with him on the bench Wednesday night, due to a sprained ankle, Oklahoma City was outscored 109-92 by the Orlando Magic.

Durant says that resting Wednesday and Thursday will allow him to play this weekend at New York and Philadelphia. Oklahoma City desperately needs wins and with a healthy roster they actually have a chance this weekend. As a fan I would expect a 1-1 split from this weekend and would be ecstatic if the return 2-0. If they come home 0-2 it will be unacceptable because I’m tired of the moral victories that come with seeing improvement. I’m ready to see that improvement turn into a real victory.