With the LA Lakers vs Orlando Magic NBA Finals series to set off on Thursday, many NBA and basketball pundits will have different analysis of this series on how the teams will win the championship. The basketball world has anticipated a Kobe-LeBron match up in the finals.
However, Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic mystified everyone as they defeated the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, 4-2, and reach the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history. A magical run for a team that was not expected to reach the second round of the playoffs because of the injury to its superstar pointguard Jameer Nelson, a mid-season player trades, and a tumultuous playoff outburst from Howard against his coach, Stan Van Gundy.
The LA Lakers were expected to reach the Finals at the start of training camp with most of its players returning to play for Phil Jackson. Everyone is healthy including center Andrew Bynum, who recovered from an injury sustained during the regular season. Kobe Bryant was able to play on both ends of the court and brought so much energy to his teammates.
The Lakers (65-17) is the second best team in the NBA for the regular season. Nevertheless, the Kobe and his teammates were like a bunch of kids bullied by the neighborhood thugs. Ron Artest and the Houston Rockets played the Lakers until Game 7 of their semifinal round in the playoff. Carmelo Anthony and the Denver Nuggets were roughhousing the Kobe and his teammates in the Western Conference Finals. The Lakers beat the Nuggets 4-2 to reach their 30th NBA Finals appearance in franchise history.
As for the Magic, coach Stan Van Gundy shouldn’t be worried that the Lakers own the homecourt advantage in the best-of-7 series that will follow the 2-3-2 format. After all, Orlando bumped off Boston and Cleveland without the homecourt edge. There is a slight twist, however, in that the Lakers will host Games 1 and 2 then, if necessary, Games 6 and 7, meaning the Magic will host Games 3 and 4 and if necessary, Game 5.
In a tight Finals duel, it’s extremely difficult to win three games in a row even at home. That means to win the title, Orlando may need to win twice on the road assuming the Lakers steal one on the Magic’s court.
But if you ask Dwight Howard and his troops about the challenge of winning twice on the road in the playoffs, they’ll probably say it’s no big deal. They did it against Philadelphia in the first and Boston in the second.
In the 76ers series, Orlando lost Game 1 at home but took out Philadelphia, 100-98, in Game 4 and 114-89, in Game 6, both on the road. In the Boston series, the Magic socked it to the Celtics in Game 1, 95-90, and did it again on the road in Game 7, 101-82. Along the way, the Magic lost Game 4, 95-94, at home so Van Gundy’s squad isn’t exactly invulnerable at home.
The Lakers are 12-6 in the playoffs so far with two losses at home. They lost Game 1 to Houston, 100-92, and Game 2 to Denver, 106-103, both at the Staples Center – indicating a weakness to defend their homecourt in the early stages of both series. Against Orlando, it’s vital for Los Angeles to win Games 1 and 2 before the series swings to Magic town.
Like Orlando, Los Angeles is tough on the road, too. The Lakers beat Utah once on the Jazz court, Houston twice on the Rockets court and Denver once on the Nuggets court. The icing on the cake was Los Angeles’ 119-92 demolition of Denver in Game 6 on the Nuggets floor to seal the deal.
The Lakers’ championship experience will be a huge factor in the series. Jackson and the late Red Auerbach are tied in the NBA honor roll with most titles by a coach at nine apiece. If LA beats Orlando, Jackson will become the all-time coaching leader with 10 championships. In all, Jackson has coached in 11 Finals, losing to Detroit in 2004 and Boston last season. This is his 12th Finals appearance as a coach.
For Bryant, it will be his coming out party as he tries to win his first ring without Shaq O’Neal watching his back. He came close last year but the Celtics, not the Lakers, were destined to win. This time, destiny is calling the Lakers.
For sure, it won’t be easy sailing for the Lakers. Last year, LA couldn’t get the job done against Boston because the Lakers had no antidote for Kevin Garnett. Now, big Andrew Bynum is in harness and he’ll definitely contribute in making life a little difficult for Howard in the middle.
How to address Howard is Jackson’s challenge. The Lakers start with Pau Gasol at power forward and Bynum at center so they’ve got a pair of bigs to keep Howard busy. But Gasol is a finesse operator, not a banger, and Jackson might give burly D. J. Mbenga, who played for Dallas in the 2006 Finals, a crack at testing Howard’s strength. Bynum is too raw and foul-prone to consistently provide Howard a threat on both ends.
Another Jackson problem is Rashard Lewis who has excellent three-point range for a 6-10 “small” forward. Trevor Ariza, a tough defender, will be given the task to shadow Lewis no doubt. Orlando’s other forward 6-10 Hedo Turkoglu is also a sharpshooter from the perimeter but Gasol or Lamar Odom or Luke Walton should be able to locate him.
The bench will play a major role in the series. Van Gundy’s shock troopers include the vastly-improved Mickael Pietrus, guard Anthony Johnson, 6-11 Marcin Gortat and hardly-used veterans Tony Battie, Adonal Foyle and Tyronn Lue. But the Lakers second unit of Odom, Walton, Jordan Farmar, Shannon Brown and Sasha Vujacic is far superior.
Orlando hasn’t played in the Finals since the O’Neal era in 1995 and that appearance was forgettable as the Houston Rockets crushed the Magic, then coached by Brian Hill, in four straight.
Bryant will be unstoppable in the Finals because the Magic won’t be able to hold down his teammates. If Orlando throws a double or triple team on Kobe, expect the other Lakers to show what they can do. Orlando just isn’t deep enough to match up man-for-man and in the end, Bryant will dominate either by scoring or passing. Besides, Jackson is too smart to lose to a Finals newcomer (Van Gundy) with the odds stacked in his favor.
It will be a game played between a team out to redeem themselves and another young team playing with destiny to clinch their first ever NBA Finals championship trophy. The series could be over in five.
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