"Orlando Magic point guard Rafer Alston, irked that he sat while some of his playing time had gone to Jameer Nelson in Game 1, softened his stance Saturday. He said he has no problem with Coach Stan Van Gundy.

Alston said after Thursday night's 100-75 loss to the Lakers that he was affected by Nelson relieving him and playing the entire second quarter.

Van Gundy said Alston was making an excuse for his subpar play, to which Alston responded, "I'll give you a good excuse. I sat 12 minutes real game-time. I sat about 30 minutes real-life time. There's your excuse. It's different. I don't care who it is."

On Saturday, Alston laughed off the exchange with Van Gundy.

"That's Coach. But I'm not the one to make excuses. Everyone understands about playing. It's just a rhythm thing. And he understands that I still go out and give him 100 percent effort every time and do what I have to do with the minutes that I'm given," said Alston, who played for Van Gundy in Miami.

"This is my second go-around with Coach and we never have any problems. He and I are on the same page."

Alston said that the decision to activate Nelson — who hadn't played since Feb. 2 — was "strange for all of us. Even Jameer. He didn't think he was going to play that long. So it's strange for everybody. But it's something that we have to adjust to rather quick. ... You're talking about something that can end in four games or go to seven."

Van Gundy eased the situation somewhat by saying that he shouldn't have played Nelson the entire second period and will hold his playing time to six– and-seven-minute stretches."