NBA Finals Time!

This is not going to be like my typical previews, just my thoughts about the finals. To be honest I am too nervous and excited to even talk about it. So here we are, after a grueling 82 game season and 3 rounds of playoff basketball, we have made it to the NBA Finals. A spot only reserved for 2 teams and the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers certainly deserve those 2 spots. Both teams have certainly had their ups and downs throughout the post season as well. There is no question that the Magic and Lakers have grown up during the playoffs and are both very tested teams. The Magic won a game 7 on the road at Boston and the Lakers won a game 6 clincher on the road at Denver. Both of those victories were blow outs as well. As much as people (ABC Executives, Nike and Vitamin Water) would love to see Kobe vs Lebron, the Magic vs the Lakers will actually be a much better, and more entertaining NBA Finals. If the Cavs would have won and played the Lakers, it wouldn't be much of a series. If you thought the Magic posed match up problems, the Cavs match up even worse with the Lakers. But the Magic and the Lakers actually match up fairly well with each other. Both teams have dominating players with a supporting cast that compliment each superstar very well.

As we are all aware of, the Magic live behind the 3 point line. And you know the saying "live by 3, die by the 3",well the Magic definitely only live by the 3. They absolutely overwhelm teams with the 3 point shot. Then when teams commit to their shooters they just pound it inside to Dwight and we know what he does. The Magic's most important player in my mind is Turkoglu. The ball is in his hands more than anyone and he takes most of the shots during crunch time. Hes a 6'10 forward to can handle the ball as well as guards and dictates where the ball is going. Ariza must do a great job on Turkoglu and not fall for his jab step. He also must keep him out of the paint as much as possible.

The Lakers on the other hand have a little more polished inside out game. The Lakers have 4 players (Bynum, Gasol, Odom and Kobe) who can score in the low post. This makes it very difficult for teams to cover them, because all 4 players are very capable of finding their open teammates and moving the ball to get a better look. I am very interested to see if the Magic let Rashard Lewis guard Gasol straight up early in the game. Gasol has the ability to get Rashard Lewis in early foul trouble and that is big trouble for the Magic. Unlike vs the Cavs, the Lakers can make Rashard work on the defensive side of the ball with Gasol and Odom. Also are the Magic going to be content with letting Kobe get his or are they going to double him early and often.

Yes the Lakers are the favorites going into this series, but the Magic did win the season series 2-0. The catalyst in those games were Jameer Nelson and he seriously was the main reason the Magic won both games. He was devastating in the 4th quarter in both games. Without him at full strength the Magic will go into this series without their biggest advantage, which was at point guard. This series is going to be about which team can impose their will more. And from what we learned earlier in the playoffs, regular season success vs an opponent does matter. In this case, both regular season games came down to the last minute and was too close too tell. The Lakers have a look and demeanor of a champion right now. Just look at the differences in both of the teams celebration after closing out the Nuggets and the Cavs. The Magic had that "happy to be here" look, while the Lakers had the "we are not done yet" look. The Magic can become the first team in NBA history to beat 3 60+ win teams in the playoffs and win their 1st NBA title. The Lakers can make it title #15 with a series victory. As if anyone is surprised I am picking the Lakers to win. The Lakers split the first 2 games in LA and then they take 2 out of 3 in Orlando and close it out in game 6 in LA. So my prediction is Lakers win in 6 games.