[quote]deputydawg wrote:
So what do you guys think will happen tonight? I think the non-Lebron Cavs will be out to prove that they are not a bunch of chumps and they will play their brains out. Cavs win game 5 at Quicken Loan tonight.[/quote]
+1
I really don’t think the Cavs will lose tonight. But if the Magic have shown us one thing this ECF, it is that they are tough as nails and liable to come back and fight for the entire 48. Looking forward to a good game, hope that it doesn’t end up so foul happy as some previous games in this series.
This looks like it’s shaping up to be a Lakers/Magic Finals. Being a Lakers fan, I’m concerned about facing the Magic even though we will have homecourt advantage against them. The Magic have a lot of weapons. Lakers do as well but those weapons haven’t been showing up consistently in the playoffs like Magic’s weapons have. I’d rather see Cleveland.
[quote]randman wrote:
This looks like it’s shaping up to be a Lakers/Magic Finals. Being a Lakers fan, I’m concerned about facing the Magic even though we will have homecourt advantage against them. The Magic have a lot of weapons. Lakers do as well but those weapons haven’t been showing up consistently in the playoffs like Magic’s weapons have. I’d rather see Cleveland.[/quote]
x2. This is my concern as well. I htink the Lakers match up better with the Cavs. Also, Lakers went 2-0 against the Cavs during the season, and 0-2 against the Magic. The Magic have strengths that take advantage of our weaknesses (perimeter defense). The Magic’s ability to move the ball is also fantastic, and the Lakers tend to gamble on defense and be inconsistent.
Well, no surprise that CLE won last night. And no surprise that LBJ had a big game, and a huge 4q. However, I was surprised that his teammates helped him out, especially in 4q. His 17 points in the fourth were huge, but his handful of assists were even bigger.
However…they did have a big lead at the beginning of the game (again) and lost the lead (again) but were able to finish strong. They can’t keep doing that and expect to advance, too much risk involved.
ORL and DEN are playing better team ball. CLE and LAL rely on their stars to carry the load, but don’t get any help from the rest of the team. Everyone else has to step up.
Orlando will win the next game. And the lakers will either win tonight, or in a possible game 7.
As a laker fan, I worry about the magic as well. Odom, Gasol, and Bynum will hafta be huge in a series against the magic.
The Magic looked like the 2009 NBA champions last night. Even though they lost, they ran the Cavaliers to pieces on their own home turf, and could just as easily come away with a W. I would be pretty shocked if they lost this series. As a Lakers fan, I am not thrilled about the possibility of facing them. They are playing exceptionally well.
Congrats to the Lakers, they put together good back to back games, and are moving on. Denver has nothing to be ashamed of, they played well and had a great season.
No doubt CLE would be the better matchup for LAL, mostly because they have no one to slow Gasol.
SOmething that will work against ORL is the Finals format: unless you see them winning in five or fewer games, they’ll have to closeout LAL at Staples. Not an enviable task.
[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
Denver has nothing to be ashamed of…[/quote]
ahem… Birdman’s haircut.
Like I mentioned earlier in this thread, Cavs had serious matchup problems with Orlando. LeBron played a magnificent series but he showed why I would still rather have Kobe.
The biggest issue with Cleveland is that they have a LeBron, surrounded by a bunch of big slow guys and a bunch of small guards. They REALLY need to try to add a big, athletic small forward or guard. They really had no one to check Rashard Lewis or Turkoglu. You can put LeBron on one, but the other has a mismatch, and they can drive, shoot the 3 and pass.
Lakers are 0-2 against the Magic this year, but I’m gonna go with LA in 6.
I was at BWW tonight watching the game. I was in the minority rooting for Orlando, but I knew they were going to win. I would have put money on it. Easy to say now, right?
This should be a really interesting series. Orlando is strong. I’m going go out on a limb and say this:
Orlando in 6!
[quote]AngryVader wrote:
I was at BWW tonight watching the game. I was in the minority rooting for Orlando, but I knew they were going to win. I would have put money on it. Easy to say now, right?
This should be a really interesting series. Orlando is strong. I’m going go out on a limb and say this:
Orlando in 6![/quote]
I really hope they can beat LA. I can’t stand Kobe and I don’t like the Lakers either. I’m beginning to like Orlando though. They’ve been a good ball club all year and they really hold their composure for 48 minutes.
I also think Orlando will beat LA in six.
Dwight Howard is a fucking G!
I think the comparisons to David Robinson are 100% legit.
I think this is going to be one hell of an exciting series.
Lake show in 6
Orlando is an interesting mix: four or five guys who can really rain down three’s paired with the most dominant interior force in basketball. This is a legitimate threat to the Lakers.
Orlando is similar to Denver, though, in that they have a tendency to slide into “stupid” basketball. They also don’t seamlessly transition from “let-Dwight-pound-away-inside” to “let’s-rain-down-threes”, it seems like they’re locked into one style of play for a few minutes before they can shift to the other.
If Nelson was healthy and Orlando was a little more disciplined offensively, I think the Magic would make very short work of the Lakers. Given that Nelson will be watching, the Lakers have HC, and the Magic do have a tendency to play undisciplined ball, I’d call it a toss-up. There is no outcome that would shock me, from a sweep of either team to a seven-game slugfest.
Orlando went 2-0 against LA in the regular season, but they were both close and Jameer Nelson went for 27 and 28 in those games.
Also, HCA doesn’t mean quite as much in the Finals as it does in the first three rounds. The road team gets 2/4 of the odd-numbered “swing” games in the 2-3-2 format, whereas they only get 1/4 in the 2-2-1-1-1 format. And unless the series goes seven, the road team will actually have more odd-numbered “swing” games than the home team.
Great game by ORL yesterday to finish off the Cavs. Looking ahead to a great NBA Finals.
Lakers win if:
The team isn’t bipolar and gets consistent play from everyone not named Kobe
Makes FT’s on a consistent basis
Magic win if:
The make it rain treys consistently
Dwight Howard gets at least 15 touches per game (especially late in games)
This is going to be a great matchup, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Magic split the home court in the first two games. However, Kobe will cement his legacy and the Lakers will remember the failure of last year’s finals and will prevail. I see the Lakers putting together a string of good games in the Finals similar to games 5 and 6 in the WCF.
Lakers in 6.
I think: Lakers in 5
Reasons:
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Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza. Long, athletic defenders that can close out the likes of a Hedo or Rashard Lewis 3 pointer.
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Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum. No, they are not as strong as Dwight Howard and yes they will give up some dunks. Yet if Bynum can play like he is capable of playing, he proposes a tough match up for Howard on both Offense and Defense. I think Pau can get his on Offense over Dwight, and pose more of a defensive threat than Z Ilgauskis or Varejao were able to.
-
Jameer Nelson isn’t playing. The Lakers biggest weakness is their point guard play. Derek Fisher can not handle a fast point guard who can score. Its why Aaron Brooks gave the Lakers fits when they were playing the Rockets.
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Kobe. He isn’t going to let the likes of Dwight Howard take the stage from him, and you can bet he is going to take the series personally ever since Jerry West crowned Lebron the best player in the NBA. He is going to want to show everyone that he is can do what Lebron couldn’t.
[quote]tmoney1 wrote:
Great game by ORL yesterday to finish off the Cavs. Looking ahead to a great NBA Finals.
Lakers win if:
The team isn’t bipolar and gets consistent play from everyone not named Kobe
Makes FT’s on a consistent basis
Magic win if:
The make it rain treys consistently
Dwight Howard gets at least 15 touches per game (especially late in games)
This is going to be a great matchup, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Magic split the home court in the first two games. However, Kobe will cement his legacy and the Lakers will remember the failure of last year’s finals and will prevail. I see the Lakers putting together a string of good games in the Finals similar to games 5 and 6 in the WCF.
Lakers in 6.[/quote]
I totally agree with this analysis. My best guess is also Lakers in 6. But as the other posters have noted nothing would surprise me in this series. the Lakers were taken to 7 by a seriously undermanned Houston team. The Magic looked very good all the way against the CAVS and could easily have swept that series.
I wish I could agree with those who predict a longer, tightly-contested series. But I don’t see it.
LAL in 5. ORL gets their one win in Game 3.