Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers looked impressive on Thursday night when they easily won game 1 of the NBA finals over the Orlando Magic, 100-75.

Coming into the game the Lakers knew they had to slow down Dwight Howard, and they did that better than anyone could have possibly imagined, holding him to just 12 points.

“We did a good job on him, but he’ll be ready to go Game 2,” Bryant said. “We worked very hard on the perimeter, keeping those guys out of rhythm, then we did a good job on him inside — giving him different looks.”

The Lakers will try to duplicate this performance in game 2 on Sunday night at the Staples Center.