Give it up for Orlando Magic forward Matt Barnes, who like it or not deserves a ton of credit for helping the home team escape Amway Arena on Sunday with a 96-94 win over the defending NBA champs.

“He’s a feisty player,” said Los Angeles Lakers Coach Phil Jackson. “Barnes did an admirable job standing up to Kobe in the course of the game.”

While Barnes finished with just 10 points, six rebounds and four fouls in over 32 minutes of play, it was the way he mixed it up with all-star Kobe Bryant that helped set the tone.

Yet his scrappy style elicited a mere roll-of-the-eyes from at least two players in the L.A. locker room, rather than warranting any kind of respect following the game.

Matt Barnes (Photo by J.C. Carnahan)

“He’s a monkey, that dude,” said Lamar Odom aloud, as he posted up at a nearby locker when Ron Artest was asked for his take on the play of Barnes.

“He picked the right game to act tough,” added Odom.

Odom held nothing back in his assessment of the journeyman who looks to have found a home in Orlando – thanks to his gutsy effort night in and night out – following stints with six different teams since 2003-04.

“It’s not like [Barnes] getting in guy’s faces made us lose the ball, or retaliate, or get stupid fouls or anything like that,” said Odom.

“He got the crowd into it. Ric Flair does the same thing,” he said. “He had his wresting gear on today. All he needed was a cape and tights.”

When Bryant was asked what type of affect a guy like Barnes has on him when he gets in his face, he emphatically laughed – not once, but twice – before saying “it’s entertaining” with a glowing sarcastic grin across his face.

Most will remember this game as the Barnes-Bryant Beef, but the physical style of play was apparent throughout the afternoon no matter who was out on the floor.

And the playoff atmosphere was plentiful, too, as local fans have yet to forget the image of L.A. celebrating a title won a year ago on the Magic’s home court.

While visiting players used terms such as “tough” and “chippy” when describing the kind of game that was played, there was never a real sense that the Lakers seemed overly concerned with the prospect of possibly facing Orlando again down the road.

“I’ve played [against] teams that are more physical,” said Bryant. “Matt Barnes was physical in terms of putting hands on you and things like that, but him bumping me and Kenyon Martin bumping me are two different things.”

With only two meetings each regular season between these two teams it’s hard to imagine a serious rivalry beginning to brew. Not in the wake of a regular-season split where both teams won games in their own buildings.

That is unless they both manage to pull off a return trip to the NBA Finals, and get back to battling for much more than just a little slice of respect this time of year.

– More on Orlando Magic vs. Los Angeles Lakers at Howard the Dunk –