ORLANDO, Fla. — Kobe Bryant came out looking to put the Los Angeles Lakers in complete control of the NBA finals.

Instead, the Orlando Magic found a way to control him.
Bryant followed an explosive first quarter with three quiet ones, and the Lakers had their series lead sliced to 2-1 after a 108-104 loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night.
“It was disappointing,” Bryant said. “I’m used to coming through in those situations, the team trusts me to come through in those situations, and it just didn’t happen tonight.”
Bryant still finished with 31 points, but he couldn’t deliver in the fourth quarter like he so often does. The only thing he could hit down the stretch was his own head — which he was doing on the bench after turning the ball over with about 30 seconds left and a chance to tie the game.
Dwight Howard knocked the ball out Bryant’s hands on the preceding play, the highlight of the Magic’s strong defensive effort on the Lakers superstar after the first 12 minutes.
Bryant scored only 10 points in the second half and was just 4 of 15 from the field in the final three quarters. He missed 10 of 12 shots down the stretch and finished 5 of 10 from the foul line.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he thought Bryant looked tired, but Bryant said he felt OK and refused to credit any of his defenders for making adjustments on him.
“It’s called four more guys,” he said. “They threw the whole kitchen sink, and they did a great job staying on my body. They brought help from the weak side, simple as that.”
Bryant had one field goal in the final quarter, and the player often called the best closer in basketball failed on some late chances that could have changed the game.
He sped down the court after a turnover, but was off on a drive to the basket that would have tied the game at 99 with about 3› minutes left. He missed a 3-pointer with the Lakers trailing by two with 2:03 to go.
Bryant then was sent to the line with just under a minute left, but the first free throw rattled out as he looked away in disgust. He did score on a putback later, but that came with just .5 seconds left after he had tossed up two of the Lakers’ four misses from 3-point range in a desperate possession.
After their 101-96 overtime victory in Game 2, Jackson said it wasn’t one of Bryant’s best performances, and the All-Star guard agreed.
Bryant looked intent on making up for it.
He scored 17 points in the first quarter — all but two of the Lakers’ final 19. He hit both 3-pointers, one while being fouled, and he completed the four-point play for a 31-27 lead with 30 seconds left in the period.
He seemed headed for a repeat of his Game 1 performance, when he scored 40 points in the Lakers’ 25-point win.
But he took his normal rest to start the second quarter, and his touch didn’t return with him.
Bryant was 1 of 5 in the period, then hit one field goal in the third. He even curiously struggled from the line, at one point missing two of three after he was fouled beyond the arc.
“I thought they really started coming hard to him,” Jackson said. “Howard was consistently coming at him on shots, making it difficult. He never really got in a rhythm again the same way he was at that time.”
Mickael Pietrus is Orlando’s best defender and the one with the primary responsibility of defending Bryant, but he was in foul trouble in Game 2. He stayed on the court for 31 minutes Tuesday, making Bryant work for everything and getting help any time he was beaten into the middle.
Bryant sought a quick end to the finals. Nothing came easy Tuesday — and now neither will that fourth title he craves.
“I missed a lot of free throws, we still put ourselves in position to win,” Bryant said. “It didn’t work out for us.”