ORLANDO, Fla. — The morning after feels like one of those beer-bong binges in college where you wake up at the frat house with a throbbing headache, underwear on your head and cold pizza in your pants. Makes you say, 'Whoa, dude.'

Buzz kill. Forget the Advil. Pain ain't going away.

O-town hurts. The Orlando Magic went on a suicide run against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

Horrific to watch, the blood-splatter was everywhere: botched free throws, careless passes, defensive breakdowns and a catastrophic coaching meltdown.

Other than that, how was the game, Mr. Van Gundy?

Stan Van Gundy had done a superb job at shredding the sarcastic "Master of Panic" label that Shaquille O'Neal hung on him. Van Gundy, an Average Joe kind of guy with a self-deprecating style of humor, led the charge as his team rallied to beat the defending NBA champions on their home court, and then buried LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in six to advance to the Finals.

Life was good.

Then Jameer happened.

And Van Gundy had a brain freeze. His insistence on playing point guard Jameer Nelson for prolonged stretches in these playoffs is a Jeff Spicoli moment. As in: "Whoa, dude, what were you thinking?"

It's inexplicable, really. Even from press row, where the great unwashed have a look at things, it's easy enough to see that Nelson wasn't ready to roll in this, the biggest stage in the biggest games of the season.

He hadn't played in four months. He had limited contact in practice. What did you expect would happen when he came back?

We can't hang this all on Van Gundy. It's obviously a collective organizational decision. GM Otis Smith botched this one, too. "He's a long ways away from playing basketball," Smith said in late May when the possibility of playing Nelson came up. Guess what, he's still a ways away.

But it becomes Van Gundy's call during game-time.

Rafer Alston, the starter, didn't play a minute in the fourth quarter Thursday night. Zero in overtime. He, like the rest of us, saw Nelson caught in the crosshairs in the waning seconds of Game 4 when the Lakers trailed by 3 and took the ball out of bounds.

Two defenders went at Kobe Bryant even though he was 75 feet away from the basket. Kobe passed the ball to Trevor Ariza, who then flipped it over to Derek Fisher on the wing.

"Jameer had one responsibility," Van Gundy said. "Not give Derek Fisher a look at the three."

Fisher got a good look at the three. Overtime.

Minutes later, Alston was still looking on when the score was tied at 91. Kobe got the ball deep in the paint, and Nelson came down to double-team him. Kobe, popping Nelson on the jaw on the pass, got the ball back to Fisher at the top of the key.

Fisher, the guy who has made more 3-pointers in the Finals than all but two other NBA players, open for another look.

Go Fish, Orlando. Game over.

Let's be clear on this: The meltdown is a collective effort, from 15 missed free throws to 17 turnovers, to a 16-foot jumper that Rashard Lewis missed with 39.9 seconds left in regulation that would have given Orlando a 7-point lead. All in all, "stupidness," as Hedo Turkoglu said.

But in the light of another day, it's clear that Nelson continues to fall way short of his all-star standards. He is tentative and a liability on both ends of the court. After only playing 11 minutes Tuesday, Nelson more than doubled that on Thursday. Envelope please: 2 points, 3 assists and 1 turnover. Alston played a little over 27 minutes, and finished with 11 points, 2 assists and 1 turnover. Advantage: Alston.

He is Orlando's starter. He's the guy who's been playing point while the Magic made this fabulous playoff run. He's the guy who isn't trying to get a feel for the game again after sitting for four months.

If he's in sync, Nelson deserves to be on the court. He's a better player than Alston. Just not here, not now.

The now is this: Orlando's point guard rotation is in shambles. Don't even try to figure out Van Gundy's pretzel logic.

I know we're playing a lot of "what ifs?" here. If Courtney Lee hits a layup in Game 1 and if Dwight Howard makes one stinkin' free throw in Game 4, the Magic are up 3-1 and we're having a completely different conversation.

The buzz would still be euphoric, not depressing.

But, as Van Gundy said, "You have to deal with reality."

Reality is that the Magic have botched a huge opportunity to win an NBA title. Orlando could have zapped memories of that 0-4 sweep in the 1995 Finals, and in many ways it has.

This is another infamous collapse.

There are no tasty waves in this script, dudes, just a big splash of reality. The pain washes over Orlando today.