Kevin's NBA Finals Preview

This will be a close fought series as these teams are evenly matched. If the Magic are to win, I believe they must steal one game in LA (my guess is the first game).

The Magic are extremely confident and on a roll right now. Despite being underdogs for the third straight series, I think they have the slight edge in match-ups against "the Lake Show."

Match-ups to watch:

Kobe will be guarded by M. Pietrus and C. Lee who both have the size and agility to make Kobe work for his points. Having said that, "All-World" Kobe Bryant will still average about 35-40 points this series as the Magic single cover him while rotating Howard over when Kobe drives to the paint. Expect to see much of what the Magic did against Lebron.


Expect Kobe to draw many perimeter fouls on both M. Pietrus and C. Lee in the series. However, unlike the Cleveland series, I don't expect Dwight Howard to be in constant foul trouble because Kobe - being more a perimeter player - will not frequently drive into his chest, which is the most effective means to draw fouls on Howard.

For his part, Howard will be guarded by either Gasol or Bynum, neither of which have had much defensive success against Howard. Gasol has trouble with physical athletic centers and Howard dominated Andrew Bynum in match-ups this year even when Andrew was healthy. Since Bynum's return from knee injury, at the end of this year, he hasn't been able to demonstrate the same level of quickness and elevation. He has had a very disappointing playoffs and will be hard pressed to do a Kendrick Perkins imitation on Dwight. On the other side of the ball, Gasol and/or Bynum will attempt to draw Howard away from the paint (like everyone does), but the Magic will settle for Gasol/Bynum taking jump shots from 17 plus feet for a lower percentage. If Gasol gets hot (he is shooting only 40% from that range this playoffs) then this could spell trouble for the Magic. Howard will crowd the lane to provide rebounding and shot blocking help for his teammates as he has done all year round.

Rashard Lewis will be guarded by Lamar Odom and possibly Bynum/Gasol when the Lakers go big. The Bynum/Gasol match-up favors Lewis as he can draw them out of the paint to exchange 3 point shots for Laker two point baskets in the post. Expect Howard to provide help on posts-ups on Rashard. Lamar is an x-factor and it is difficult to know how effective he will play in the series as he has had an extremely uneven playoffs. If he can provide solid defense on Rashard and generate offense, then this will bode well for the Lakers. This of course is a big "if."

Ariza will probably match up with Hedo Turkoglu this series. This will be one of the most even match-ups in the series as both players are suspect to extreme ebbs and flows in their games. Expect Hedo, to attempt to run Ariza off on Pick-and-Rolls with Dwight Howard.

Jameer Nelson, if he plays at all, probably will only be used in small doses (10-15 minutes max) throughout the series. He is not in game shape and will take minutes from, the backup, A. Johnson. Jameer is well-liked and the unquestioned leader of this Magic team, so his presence, albeit small, can only help the morale of the team. Rafer "Skip-to-my-Lou" will continue to be the starter and should be able to penetrate against an aged Derek Fisher. Expect at least one 20 plus point outburst from Rafer Alston during the series.

Although, I expect the match-ups to slightly favor the Magic, the fact that the Lakers have home-court advantage in a 2-3-2 setup is a factor in making this series even tighter. Wow...as stated, it should be a great series. Yes I'm very biased, but I believe in this team. I'll take the Magic in 6 games.