Magic has a lot to prove

Rafer Alston teased teammate Courtney Lee about his protective face gear, saying: “You should wear that mask on Halloween.”

Mickael Pietrus, looking as if he wanted to re-enact Cleveland’s Mo Williams’ first-half closing, long bomb of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, hit one going deep after practice, and his excited yell of celebration cut through the calm of Quicken Loans Arena.

And finally, Dwight Howard clanked a series of baseline jumpers and, found his target, joking, to no one in particular: “I look like Stan.”

(That would be his rumpled and tired-looking Orlando Coach Stan Van Gundy)

Guess the Magic will be just fine when it learns how to relax and kick back. On Thursday, the players were like giddy kids on the playground, a decided contrast to the Cavaliers’ telling body language after Game 1.

Something happened along the way to the breathlessly anticipated LeBron-Kobe derby: The Magic silenced the crowd with a stirring second-half comeback, beating Cleveland, 107-106, despite LeBron James’ 49 points. Game 2 is here tonight.

The Magic outscored the Cavaliers, 59-43, in the second half, shot 59% in the second half, and Orlando’s bench outscored Cleveland’s, 22-5. Cleveland had lost a mere two times at home in the regular season.

Said the Cavaliers’ Delonte West: “Nobody said it was going to be easy. They came up with one more big play than we did. The series is not won in just one game.”

Although this development moved Game 2 into the must-win category for the Cavaliers, Van Gundy doubted that his team made a lasting impression.

“I don’t think most of the nation knows we’re in this series,” Van Gundy said. “It’s the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James series and who they’re playing against is incidental.

“We’re really incidental to this playoff series to most of the national media, the fans and everything else. But it doesn’t matter. This is not the BCS where people get to vote for who the best teams are. We actually get to play on the court to decide that.”

Van Gundy and Howard, yes, did agree on that point, that one win did not mean Orlando’s bandwagon would start to gain passengers. “Not yet,” said Howard, who had 30 points and 13 rebounds in Game 1.

“We’ve got a lot of stuff to prove. We’ve got to come out better tomorrow. We got to get this series. We’ve got to gain the respect of everyone around the league and everybody around the world.”

First, Cleveland and then the world.

Now, the once-fractious Howard and Van Gundy were starring in their own buddy movie in the Eastern Conference finals. Howard joked about Van Gundy’s positive vibe on the bench, encouraging his players despite double-digit deficits in the first half.

Howard said that Van Gundy “tricked” the team by being so positive: “We were like, ‘Stan? Is this the real Stan?’ ”

Still, Van Gundy did manage to push the right buttons at the half, telling the Magic players that they were standing around like witnesses, watching James blow past them.

“I was really upset,” Howard said. “I didn’t want to be a witness.”

Howard thought about it and looked amused, adding, “We were still witnesses to 49 points.”

--

lisa.dillman@latimes.com