LOS ANGELES — A year ago in the NBA Finals, the Lakers’ lanky, long-limbed frontcourt men were labeled “soft.”

They were supposedly as supple as the stems on day-old Gerbera daisies, more finessed and forceful, and too yielding down low to become big men worthy of wearing championship rings.
But in the Lakers’ Game 2 overtime victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night at Staples Center, forwards Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom were everything but soft. They have evolved in a season, becoming as tough in body and in mind as Brillo-pad bookends.
They worked overtime on Sunday night. Gasol played 44 minutes, scored 24 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 10 of 11 from the line, and added 10 rebounds (all defensive), three assists, two steals and a block.
Off the bench for the foul-strapped center Andrew Bynum, Odom played 46 minutes, hit 8 of 9 shots from the field and 3 of 4 from the line for 19 points, and he added eight rebounds, two assists, a steal and three blocks.
These are the hard facts of their solid performances, which, for the second consecutive game, were active and unrelenting.
You could see the effect of Gasol’s and Odom’s hard work by the frustration that wrinkled the youthful forehead of Magic All-Star center Dwight Howard and the irritation that Magic forwards Hedo
Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis showed by shaking their heads and looking longingly at the officials with eyes that begged the zebras to blow whistles.
“They’re mixing it up on me.,” said Howard, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year who was limited to 17 points (shot-less in the second quarter) but had a game-high 16 rebounds.
“When Pau is on me, he’s forcing me baseline . . . and they’re coming as soon as I put the ball down. So it’s a learning experience for me. I’ve just got to really do my homework and find ways to be it.”
The 7-foot, 250-pound Gasol and 6-10, 230-pound Odom officially have become nuisances to the 6-11, 265-pound Howard. They were tailing the Magic frontcourt men, hip-checking them, poking them, slowing them, switching on and off them at enough key moments to disrupt their offensive flow and dominating them when it mattered the most.
It was Gasol hovering near the basket with 33.5 seconds left in regulation and the Lakers’ down, 88-86. Lakers guard Derek Fisher ripped a pass inside. The ball glanced off Howard’s hand, but Gasol pivoted, made the grab and laid in the tying bucket, with a howling celebration for emphasis.
With 10.9 seconds left in regulation and the score tied, 88-88, Odom had position near the rim and ran arms through the air like a helicopter propeller. Distracted shooter Courtney Lee watched his layup miss and Odom collected the rebound.
And it was Gasol again, leading the Lakers with seven points in overtime. He boxed out Howard for a key defensive board on a J.J. Redick missed three-pointer. That possession let to Kobe Bryant’s 12-foot fadeaway jumper that put the Lakers ahead for good, 92-91 with 2:18 remaining.
With 89 seconds left, Gasol had another defensive board on a missed Turkoglu jumper. Bryant brought the ball up the court, drove inside, drew Howard in the lane and then fed the ball to an open Gasol, who laid in a bucket and drew a foul. It all amounted to a 97-91 security blanket.
“You got to really hand it to Lamar Odom and Paul Gasol because they really stepped up,” said Bynum, who played just 16 minutes and had five points, a rebound, two blocks and five fouls. “They were double-teaming a dominant post player and trying to control the inside, which is hard against a team that plays inside out.”
Odom said there were a few “breakdowns” in Game 2 that allowed Turkoglu (22 points) and Lewis (34 points) to get open looks that weren’t there in the Lakers’ Game 1 romp. But overall, Odom, who looked thoroughly exhausted and complained of back soreness after the game, was pleased with the effort and intensity of his frontcourt defense.
“We have to run those guys (Howard, Turkoglu and Lewis) off their shots at the beginning of the game,” Odom said. “Me and Paul have a lot of experience ... and we have a strong connection.”
It was that solid connection that has made life for the Magic pretty hard.