NBA Finals Preview

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, this is the moment we have all been waiting for. Game 1 of the 2009 NBA Finals is upon us as the Los Angeles Lakers will look to win their 15th NBA Championship, while the Orlando Magic will look to win the first NBA Championship in their franchise history. This is going to be a very interesting matchup. The Magic defeated the Lakers both times in the regular season, yet the Lakers have arguably played their best basketball in the last two games they played against the Denver Nuggets. The Magic have the best center in the game in Dwight Howard, yet the Lakers have the best player in the game in Kobe Bryant. Here are my thoughts on the series.

Orlando is a great team, their road to getting to the Finals included taking down the defending champion Boston Celtics, and the Cleveland Cavaliers who had the best record in the NBA. The Lakers in my opinion have been the best team in basketball all year long. They were tested in the Conference Semifinals against the Houston Rockets and in the Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets. 

The key for me is whether or not the Lakers will be able to contain Orlando's fantastic 3-point shooting. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Magic shot over 40% from the 3-point line throughout the series. Now a big part of that was because of the shooters that were left open due to Cleveland double-teaming Dwight Howard, which is something that Phil Jackson will not do. Another important key is whether or not Howard can stay out of foul trouble. The Magic cannot win if Howard fouls out, or if he is on the bench for a long period of time. If the Lakers play the way they did in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals for the whole series, I will have a hard time seeing them lose.

I am one of those people who believes that home-court advantage makes all the difference in the world. The way the 2-3-2 format works is that Games 1 & 2 will be played in Los Angeles, Game 3, 4, & 5 will be played in Orlando, and Games 6 & 7 will be played in Los Angeles. This format plays a big part in why I think the Lakers will win the series. Let's face it, Orlando will not win the series in five games or less which means if they want to win the series, they will have to do it on the Lakers home-court, which is something I have a lot of trouble envisioning. 

This is the golden opportunity for the Lakers, they have not worked so hard to get back to the Finals just to fall short again. Ever since the Lakers were embarrassed in Game 6 of the Finals last year in Boston, Kobe Bryant has played with something to prove. Kobe's window of opportunities is closing, and if the Lakers fall short this year, it's possible they may not have a better chance to win the title with Kobe on the team. This is Kobe's chance to finally win a championship without Shaquille O'Neal.

It's fair to say that the Celtics last year were better than the Magic are this year. With the Lakers having home-court advantage, it's very tough for me to pick against them, even if they lost twice to Orlando in the regular season. This is the NBA Finals, Orlando is a young team and they have no experience in this type of situation. The Lakers have everything to prove, and everything to lose. Just like last year was the Celtics year, this is the Lakers year. 

My Pick- Lakers in six