So, the NBA Finals is upon us. And aren't the folks at Vitamin Water and Nike thrilled with their Kobe/LeBron ad campaigns? But really, no one saw the Magic coming. Not the sponsers, not NBC, certainly not the Cavaliers. Now, we get the Lakers v. the Magic. It's JJ Redick v. Adam Morrison! Yeeha!
Who will win? That's the big question right? Everyone is saying, "Lakers all the way!" "There's no way Kobe loses!" "This is the Mamba's year!" Except....well....I think there IS a way Kobe loses. To the Magic. As crazy as it sounds, the Magic have the "nobody believes in us!" mojo working overtime this year. They've stunned the Celtics, the Cavaliers and now face the Lakers. Plus, they've got this guy as their head coach:
Hey ladies, want to sit courtside with me?
But really, this Magic team reminds me of the Warriors. It really does. Can Swann, Ajax, Vermin, Cochise and Rembrandt fight off every top gang in New York City, including the Baseball Furies, the Punks AND the Orphans and make it back to Coney Island alive? (Ok, the Orphans were jokes, but so were the Celtics.) Can Dwight Howard and company overcome the Celtics, the Cavaliers and the Lakers? I'm pretty sure they beat the Lizzies in the first round...
The 2009 Orlando Magic!
Like Ajax, Jameer Nelson is the wild card here. Will he contribute at all? And if so, how much and how well? He destroyed the Lakers in two regular season matchups in December and January. Actually, the Magic as a whole trounced the Lakers in the regular season. This normally shouldn't matter, but the Magic also had 1 of only 2 visitor wins in Cleveland during the season...so there you go. And if Jameer Nelson plays will Rafer Alston sulk? And let's not forget, who exactly is going to stop - well, at least contain - Dwight Howard? Andrew Bynum? Please. I don't want to say Bynum's soft but...well, he's soft. In the 2 games this season, Howard combined for 43 points and 32 boards, while Bynum had just 17 points and 4 boards. I'm no math major, but that's not good.
Pictured: Andrew Bynum
What makes the Magic so tough is that they can play it both ways. They have a power forward in Lewis that can just kill you. But Dwight Howard's presence assures that they won't get killed when the other team plays small ball. And of course, they hit a ridiculous amount of three's. During the Cavs series they hit 55 of 119 three's. That's 47% and that's just insane. I'm quite sure Disney's already thinking of ways to capitalize off the Magic's stunning run.
We're gonna paint this sucka orange and watch Howard palm it.
So, that's it then? The Magic are the champs. Well...not so fast. It's not like they're gonna walk all over the Lakers. This is Kobe we're talking about here. The Mamba. The Assassin. He's not going down easy - if he goes down at all. To beat this Magic team, you'll need, in my opinion, a big forward that can torch Lewis and a center than can handle Howard. And let's not forget the coaching edge. Jackson can coach circles around Ron Jeremy. And he knows it. My guess? He'll rely on Bynum and Gasol to control Howard one-on-one. By playing Howard one-on-one, the Lakers will be free to eliminate the open three, and contest nearly every three-pointer the Magic try to put up. Of course, Howard will get damn near 50, but so what? Let him try to score 50. When he's hitting twos, the other guys aren't hitting threes. Let Howard try to be Superman. He'll win the battle, but the Lakers will win the war.
Not the Superman we had in mind, Dwight.
Of course, no one on Orlando can stop Kobe. No one. Kobe will go wild game in and game out. So the question will be, can guys like Gasol, Bynum and especially Odom out perform guys like Lewis, Alston and Turkoglu.
It's a tough call. But the thinking here is that Kobe finds a way to survive and put his teammates on his shoulders for the win in seven games. However, if Lamar Odom can't overcome his candy addiction, I'm prepared to revise this prediction...
