Lakers look to take 3-1 lead over Magic
Thursday, June 11th, 2009
If they can, then we’ll probably start paying attention to those guys.
The road to the title continues in the NBA with Game 4 of the 2009 NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic set to be played this Thursday in Orlando, Florida.
Last Tuesday night, the Orlando Magic made history by taking their very first win in the NBA Finals, beating the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 3, 108-104. That’s right, this franchise finally won one.
You see, it wasn’t so long ago when a Magic team led by a young Shaquille O’Neal was swept by Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets. This franchise finally winning a game in the NBA Finals last Tuesday night was vindication, to say the least.
Of course, despite making history, the Los Angeles Lakers are still in front in this series, 2-1. The Orlando Magic still have a lot of work to do too, they still need to beat this Lakers team three more times to win the title, not to mention the fact that they need to win this Thursday and tie the series to give themselves a shot in this best of seven affair.
The problem is, the Lakers will come out more focused, even more determined, and a little agitated.
You see, the way the Lakers finished Game 3 should be more than enough reason for these guys to feel apprehensive. The Lakers team that finished that game wasn’t the same team that won the first two games of this series. In Game 3, the Lakers gave it away to the Magic, with Kobe Bryant missing key free throws and committing huge turnovers down the stretch that paved the way for Orlando to win it.
Maybe the Lakers took Game 3 off since they did have a commanding 2-0 lead coming into Amway Arena last Tuesday. Maybe they just needed to find out how far can the Magic take them if a win in a game as big as Game 3 was at stake. Maybe the Lakers just wanted to keep this series interesting. After all, would you still be interested if the Lakers went up 3-0 in Orlando?
One thing’s for sure though, the Lakers…
The 2009 NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Magic
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
The NBA Finals have finally arrived and it’s Tinseltown going up against Disneyland.
You read it, the 2009 NBA Finals are finally here and facing for the first time for all the marbles will be the Los Angeles Lakers and the Orlando Magic. The Lakers were able to eliminate the Nuggets in six games to get here while the Magic gave everybody’s pick to win the title back to Cleveland for good, at least until late October hits again.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been here the most among any other franchise in NBA history. From the days of Magic Johnson to the incredible one-two punch of the Kobe - Shaq era, the Lakers have been playing for titles for quite some time now.
This year, Kobe Bryant will try to win a championship ring without a seven-foot, 300-pound Shaquille O’Neal by his side, and he hopes to improve where he failed last year against the Boston Celtics.
The Orlando Magic? This is only the second time in the history of their franchise that they have been this far. The last time they got here ended in a humbling sweep by the Houston Rockets. Ironically, Shaquille O’Neal was also part of it and while he gave the Lakers some memorable moments in their three-year title reign, his history with Orlando was a sour one when his inability to shoot free throws was exposed by Houston to win the title.
This year, Orlando is being led by a new Man of Steel. While Shaq already established himself as the Man of Steel back when he was playing in Orlando, Dwight Howard has done enough to merit being branded as the city’s new Superman. And now that he has led the team back to the NBA Finals, Orlando is hoping this Superman will at least have the Magic last longer than the last time they got here.
It’s Tinseltown going up against Disneyland….
Can the Lakers finish off the Nuggets?
Friday, May 29th, 2009
The Lakers are one win away from returning to the NBA Finals.
The 2009 NBA Playoffs just keep on getting better and better each day. We already know that the Cavaliers have postponed the inevitable when they defeated Orlando in Game 5 to keep their season alive. In the West, well, the Lakers on Friday have the opportunity to do what the Magic failed at in Cleveland, finish off the competition.
You read it, the NBA Playoffs continue this Friday as the Los Angeles Lakers, up 3-2 in the 2009 NBA Western Conference Finals, will have a chance to return to the NBA Finals by finishing off the Denver Nuggets. However, since the Nuggets will be home for Game 6, it won’t be easy.
The Denver Nuggets need this elimination game to be played on their own floor too since every bad call imaginable in basketball was slapped on them in Los Angeles. Well, that’s what some of the Nuggets claim anyway.
According to one Nuggets player who refuses to identify himself for fear of retribution from the league, the Los Angeles Lakers paid the referees officiating Game 5 in Los Angeles to give them the game and the 3-2 advantage.
‘’The Lakers paid $50,000 to win that game. They got their money’s worth.’’
The Nuggets complaining about the officiating after losing a playoff game doesn’t surprise me since it was only a few days ago when it was the Lakers who were playing the blame game on the referees after losing to the Nuggets, 120-101, in Game 4.
Yep, the Lakers were not so happy about that one. Lakers coach Phil Jackson and the entire Lakers organization were even fined $50,000 by the NBA for complaining about the calls made in Game 4.
Game 6 should be a nice game. Hopefully…
Can Cleveland beat Orlando in Game 5?
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009
The Cavs may have finally gotten the wakeup call they needed.
For the second time in the 2009 NBA Playoffs, the Orlando Magic outplayed the Cleveland Cavaliers, winning Game 3, 99-89 to take the 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It seems it was only yesterday when the Cleveland Cavaliers were dominating people, marching on to the Conference Finals after sweeping the first two best of seven series wars placed in front of them.
Nobody, at least basketball fans from Cleveland anyway, thought that the Cavaliers will be down 2-1 after the first three games of the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals. Heck, they probably never anticipated that they’ll be down 2-1 to the Magic since they were probably anticipating a Cleveland - Boston match-up in the playoffs all season.
Yes, the Orlando Magic, after all their struggles in the first two rounds of the postseason, have simply been phenomenal against the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Imagine this, after stunning the Cavaliers in Cleveland, winning Game 1, 107-106, to steal homecourt, the Magic could’ve been easily up 3-0 if it wasn’t for that dramatic three-point shot LeBron James made at the buzzer in Game 2. After winning Game 3 by a handful, 99-89, the Magic now has this series under control and the Cavaliers, on the ropes.
So what does Cleveland have to do to tie this series at two games apiece? Easy. The Cavs need to match Orlando’s physicality. If they don’t, they might see Mo Williams busted open again.
Or worse, they might see their chances of…
Can Cleveland beat Orlando in Game 2?
Thursday, May 21st, 2009
The Cavaliers finally lost one.
In what has been a stunning display of domination by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 NBA Playoffs, they finally lost their first playoff game, losing 107-106 to the no.3 seed Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
It was probably one of the most improbable of wins. If you haven’t been watching these playoffs lately, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been so dominant that they were already a shoo-in for the 2009 NBA Eastern Conference Finals as early as the first round.
After sweeping the first two rounds of the playoffs, sweeping both the Detroit Pistons and the Atlanta Hawks, the Cleveland Cavaliers had more than enough time to prepare for whichever team will come out of the East to challenge them. When the Orlando Magic officially dethroned the Boston Celtics in seven games, the Cavaliers were clearly not ready for them just yet.
When a team had THAT much time away from the court like the Cleveland Cavaliers did, the last thing you want when you get back on the floor are delays that can get you out of your rhythm. When the Orlando Magic took the floor of the Quicken Loans Arena, Dwight Howard showed just how good he really is, THAT and he kept the Cavaliers off their rhythm. All that in the opening minutes of Game 1.
Thanks to Dwight Howard ferociously slamming the ball down early in the first quarter, the 24-second shot clock above the rim was knocked off and the game had to be stopped for at least eight minutes.
Those precious eight minutes probably took any semblance of a rhythm LeBron James and his Cavaliers had early in Game 1.
The Cavaliers did build a 15-point lead at halftime but since Orlando was MAGIC, that 15-point lead MAGICALLY disappeared as Orlando was able to overcome LeBron James’ 49-point night to take the early 1-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Game 2 is scheduled this Friday still in…
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