GAME 4 Fish the hero

Derek Fisher is use to hitting big shots in clutch moments, the 76ers and the Spurs all know to well. In the NBA finals in 2001 Derek Fisher hit a big three pointer in game 4 of the series to help the Lakers lead from a single possession to a two possession game. The Spurs, well i will just say .4 and you know what i am talking about. I guess this year you can call him the 4 ring man. Fisher just like Kobe is looking to get his fourth ring in six appearances in the NBA Finals. In game four of the finals this year Stan van Gundy did a horrible job of coaching. First he let the Lakers get off a three point shot attempt in the final seconds of the game and not only that, he was not able to set up a success in bound-play for the final play of regulation.

The game should have never went to overtime, Howard should at least have hit one foul shot and the game would have been over. In overtime both defenses stepped up. In the beginning of overtime Kobe tried to take over the game and in some essence he did just that in giving the Lakers a 91-90 lead. Later that quarter Kobe struggled and relied on Fisher to bail him out. Fisher hit the deciding shot of the game with a three pointer that gave the Lakers a 3 point lead. This game was one of the best games i have ever seen, not only that but the Lakers came back from a 12 point hole during halftime.

The Lakers will must likely win this series because the Magic hearts are broken. The magic had ever chance to win but simply could not. I just don't see the magic winning game 5 even at home. Expect Lamar Odom, Fisher and Kobe to have monster games in game 5.

Lakers

This is the year for the Lakers, Kobe never wanted another championship so bad before. Now the Lakers have a great supporting cast and they want it just as much as Kobe does. The Magic are a good team but are not at the same level as the Lakers. Not only are the Lakers better than the Magic, the Lakers also have home court. The Lakers really only need to win one game at the Magic to win the series. Howard has struggled all through out the series because of the Lakers height. Phil Jackson is now playing matchups and allows Jordan Farmer to play when were Nelson is on the court.

There have been some great Game 4s in Finals history. A few that I remember were McHale clotheslining Rambis in the ’84 Finals and of course, Magic’s Junior, Junior Skyhook in ’87.

Kobe has History in game 4 of the NBA finals. I remember watching that game on TV. Kobe dominated one Game 4 down the stretch against the Pacers in the 2001Finals. Shaq had fouled out and it was Kobe time. He scored something like eight points down the stretch, including the game winner when he twisted under the hoop after rebounding his miss. Kobe understands the pressure and how to perform in the Finals, expect him to do the same in game 4 and throught out the series.

My feeling

I had a feeling Orlando was going to win this game. It's foolish to think this was going to be a sweep. Orlando's an effin resilient team and I even said before the series started that I wouldn't be surprised if it goes either way. The Magic, in many ways, are a bad match-up for the Lakers. I mean the Lakers are allergic to perimeter defense. We all know that. The Orlando Magic shot 62.5 percent. That's a Finals record, along with their first half shooting of 75 percent. The Lakers, of course, need to defend better but there's not much you can say when Orlando was making the tougher shots. It was amazing that the Lakers kept the game close despite the outstanding Magic shooting. The Magic will NOT shoot this well again. L.A. did a terrible job defending in this game. Orlando will keep playing its offense and I think Bryant will pace himself a bit better.

Los Angeles trailed 104-102 in the finals seconds of the game and were looking to tie the contest, but Bryant had the ball poked away by Mickael Pietrus and the game was sealed. Orlando captured their first NBA Finals win in franchise history.Orlando shot an NBA Finals record 62.5 percent from the field. The hot shooting percentage beats the old mark held by the Chicago Bulls in the 1991 NBA Finals against Los Angeles. Orlando is now 1-6 all-time in NBA Finals history. Los Angeles tied an NBA record by dropping their seventh straight Finals game on the road. The Lakers now share the company of the Fort Wayne Pistons from 1955-56. The Lakers lost game 3 by a score of 108-104.

Game 4 of the 2009 NBA Finals is Thursday, June 11. All the action begins at 9:00 ET on ABC live from Amway Arena in Orlando.

Game 2

Game 2 of the NBA Finals began like a bad junior high basketball game. Neither team could find the bottom of the bucket. It looked like both teams had just walked out of an ice chest prior to taking the floor. The cold shooting by both teams helped to set a new NBA record. At the end of the first quarter the score was 15-15, which is the lowest combined first quarter total in NBA Finals history.

Lamar Odom had a strong fourth quarter for the Lakers, and the game went back and forth but the home team always has an advance in the playoffs espically with LA.The Lakers didn't seem to play with much energy like the previous three games but they did get another great performance by Lamar Odom. Odom had 19 points and 8 boards. As i crack open the record book, i discover when the home team takes the first two games of a best-of-seven series they've been victorious 94 percent of the time. Only three times in league history has a team come back from an 0-2 hole

Los Angeles will now take a 2-0 series lead to Orlando as the Magic will try to regroup and get back in the series in front of the hometown fans. Lakers should be happy that they're leading 2-0 after they didn't play their A-game. Not that Orlando brought theirs, either. The end of the game saved this from being a very forgettable game.

the magic have a really good chance of winning Game three because of home court.
Expect the magic to come out playing well.

game one of the finals

Go back to the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals vs. the Nuggets and you could say the lakers played nine great quarters. Those quarters represent the highest level they been playing all season and it's happening at the best time of the year for the lakers. they are getting good ball movement, the defensive effort is there plus Kobe is obviously locked in.

With Game 1 in the books, it's important to maintain their edge. they would be foolish to get too high on ourselves and think that the series is over or tilting one way already. No one is expecting the Magic to shoot 29.9 percent in Game 2 like they did in Game 1. I felt like the Lakers played well on the defensive end, even though the Magic missed a lot of open shots. One of the real strengths of the team is their length and quickness. It's been like that the last two years. With 7 footers like Drew and Pau plus a 6-10 player in Lamar grabbing rebounds, contesting shots and closing the gaps, they can cover a lot of territory. So, their defensive rotations were pretty good although they did miss on a few of those. The game tape doesn't lie. Dwight, Rashard and Hedo were a combined 6 for 27 from the field. Dwight had one field goal. No doubt the Magic will make a concentrated effort to get Dwight more involved in the offense; same with Rashard.

Game 2 will be an more interesting game because the magic will play better and i sure Kobe will not have the same performance as he did in game one. I wonder how Howard will play in game 2, if they lose game 2, they most likely will lose the series. This is a must win for the Magic, and all of their players have to step up, including Lee.

Lakers Vs Magic

The Magic vs Lakers are this years NBA finals contenders, but they could only be one NBA champion. So the best way to determine a champion at this time is by evaluating the current match-ups. Let’s look at who is guiding Kobe in the Finals; the Magic will assign Courtney Lee, a rookie 6-5 guard. Kobe cant wait for the NBA finals to start he, wants one more ring, and Lee simply can’t hold Kobe. He is too small, too young and Kobe is too great. This year in the playoffs Kobe is averaging 29.6 against good defenders from the western conference and Lee is an average defender, expect Kobe to have a gigantic series.

The only in which the Magic have is at the center position. Although the Magic have Howard, the Lakers do have three players that are over 6-10 and we play enormous amount of minutes. The in which I am talking about are Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. Andrew Bynum will challenge and make Howard work for his points because of his physically ability and height. Pau Gasol will also help, he is an 7- footer that could gave Howard some difficulties. Lamar Odom has a big heart and will compete to his best ability in guarding Howard. But unlike in last series Howard is forced to help more and guard someone who could score the ball in Bynum, Gasol or Odom. In the Coaching match-up the Lakers have the greatest coach of all-time, while the Magic have a good coach. The Lakers have a edge in this coaching match-up.

the Cavs and Lebron

A lot of people compared Kobe to Lebron is the only thing can I say is really, come on be serious. Kobe is a winner and Lebron, well he just puts up numbers, very impressive numbers. But he does not put up banners like Kobe has done and will do. Lebron had a team this year that had the best record and only lost two games at home the whole season, but he simply could not do the same in the playoffs. With Kobe the only thing in which he really cares about is winning the NBA finals, something Lebron has never done in his career, a matter a fact Lebron has never won a NBA finals game. What else does Lebron need another all-star; he had that in Mo Williams. The Lakers have the best closer and the best winning player in Kobe, while the Cavs have the best player. Sure he is the best player in the league but he is definitely not the most valuable, Kobe is. Kobe has carried the Lakers over the years and this year Kobe going to carry the Lakers towards a ring.

Now the Lakers will face the Magic, the new and improved Magic with Dwight Howard.
Just to think a few years ago the Magic were not even in the playoffs. But this year is the Lakers’ year. I will talk about more about the match-ups on my next blog. The cavs arguable had one of the best supporting cast and still were not able to make it to the NBA Finals. Lebron has no more excuses, champions never have excuses, they just win.The NBA Finals will be a joke, the magic are too young and are too inexperienced to compete with the Lakers.