LOS ANGELES, (Reuters) – The Los Angeles Lakers  picked up where they left off in the NBA Finals last June by  finishing strongly to beat the Orlando Magic 98-92 on Monday.      In a theme familiar from the Lakers’ 4-1 championship  series triumph last year, the Magic looked to be going well  before a Los Angeles late surge stole the show.

Shannon Brown scored a career-high 22 points and Pau Gasol  added 17 with 10 rebounds as the Lakers seized the momentum  with a 23-2 run in a stretch extending from the third to the  fourth quarter.

Orlando shook off an early deficit and led 67-58 with 3:15  left in the third but then failed to make a field goal for more  than nine minutes.   “It was the defensive effort we brought,” said Gasol, who  was playing his second successive game after missing six in a  row with a hamstring injury.

“We didn’t start the third with any intensity and they took  advantage of it. We started hustling and working and played  (Dwight Howard) more physically.”

Howard scored 18 of his 24 points in the first half but was  subdued after the break as the Magic (26-15) slid to their  seventh defeat in nine game.

Orlando have looked nothing like the Eastern Conference  champions of a year ago, in terms of both effort and personnel.  Offseason acquisition Vince Carter has struggled with his  shooting and that trend continued on Monday as he managed just  nine points on 3-for-11 shooting.

Kobe Bryant, playing with a broken finger on his shooting  hand and a sore back, scored 11 on 4-for-19 shooting.

“I think he’s OK physically but he didn’t practice, and  sometimes when you don’t practice your rhythm is off a little  bit,” said Lakers coach Phil Jackson.