Poll: The 2009 NBA Finals
by Ed (dfjmed) on Jun 15, 2009 11:22 AM CDT
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PrintThe Los Angeles Lakers finished the regular season with a 65-17 record, and won the Pacific Division by 19 games. They zoomed past the Utah Jazz in 5 games, sweated out a 7 game series with the Houston Rockets, and eventually closed out the Denver Nuggets in 6. Yep...the Lakers are in the Finals, once again. Can Kobe Bryant finally get his ring without Shaq? Will Phil Jackson break Red's record and coach his 10th NBA Championship team? Or, will the Lakers lose in the Finals for the second consecutive year?
The Orlando Magic won the Southeast Division by 12 games, finishing with a 59-23 record. They took care of the 76ers in 6, knocked off the defending NBA Champion Boston Celtics in 7, and upset the Cleveland Cavaliers, who finished with an NBA best 66-16 record, in 6 games. The Magic will make their first NBA Finals appearance since 1995, when they fell in 4 to the Back-to-Back Champion Houston Rockets. Do Rashard Lewis, Hedo, and Dwight Howard have what it takes to upset the Lakers and lead the Orlando Magic to their first NBA Championship?
Game 1: Lakers 100, Magic 75 Box Score
Game 2: Lakers 101, Magic 96 Box Score
Game 3: Magic 108, Lakers 104 Box Score
Game 4: Lakers 99, Magic 91 Box Score
Game 5: Lakers 99, Magic 86 Box Score
vs 
The Los Angeles Lakers win the 2009 NBA Championship, over the Orlando Magic, 4 games to 1.
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Magic in 7
They won’t have to deal with Cleveland’s homecourt. As long as the Magic maintain their defensive strategy and closely guard everyone but Kobe like they did with James in Cleveland, they’ll win for sure.
But the real X-Factor, the Lakers are still starting Bynum. Bynum isn’t doing anything positive for this team, yet the Lakers still start him over Gasol. You know gasol, that guy who was great in the regular season and kept LA elite. Until the Lakers sit Bynum and start either Farmar or Gasol, the Magic will win games.
I don’t think the games will be as tight as the Cleveland games, but I say every game will be by 5 points. that’s right, every game.
Go Magic!!!! My second fave team will win their first title.
Randy Blythe, Singer of Lamb of God- "Words can be broken, so can bones....." Omerta by Lamb of god
uuuhhhhhh
The Lakers need to “start gasol”? Exactly which game were you referring to where the Laker’s didn’t start Gasol? Have you even watched a single Laker game? Better yet, do you know where Los Angeles is?
sorry wrong name XP
I meant Odom. sorries
Randy Blythe, Singer of Lamb of God- "Words can be broken, so can bones....." Omerta by Lamb of God
I think the Magic can do this. I really do. Hell, they’ve come this far, so why stop here? It’s not going to be easy, but nothing worth it is. They live and die by the three, but atleast you know what you’re getting with them. The Lakers have a lot of incosistencies to predict. Look for Dwight to eat Bynum for lunch.
7 out of 8 ESPN panelists have the Lakers taking this, just like they did last year.
Hi, my name is Ed, and I despise the Lakers.
lakers in 6. when the lakers show up, they’re the best team in the league. the magic have the depth to challenge, and they’ll take 2 games, but the lakers will claim 1 in orlando, and thats all she wrote.
i want the magic to win though, and i hold out hope. seriously, outside of lakers fans, the media, and the nba, does anyone want the lakers to win?
free george hill!
by sleep research facility on May 31, 2009 11:37 AM CDT reply actions
Magic in 6.
How do you stop such a hot-shooting team with a dominant center to play inside-out?
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Dunkin' Cheerleaders
Magic in 6. Orlando is brutally efficient, and they want it bad.
Free James Gist!
Pounding the Rock - where ochlocracy happens. Eat your heart out, California.
This is a hard one for me to decide (and I honestly like Orlando more than the Lakers, mostly because I like the Van Gundys and because Phil kind of creeps me out). My gut is saying the Magic will take this in 6 or 7, especially if Pietrus keeps up that great off-the-bench performance, but I also think Ariza and Farmar have been steadily raising their game, and Odom and Gasol finally seem to have discovered the intensity they were missing. I think it’s going to be a good series — should be fun to watch. I’ll go with my gut for now — Magic in 7.
I’m very curious to see how the Lakers are going to play Howard.
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Dunkin' Cheerleaders
by LatinD on May 31, 2009 3:02 PM CDT reply actions 4 recs
+1
What the Bowen giveth Horry taketh away. --LatinD (2008 Playoffs Round 2, Game 1)
the Spurs do not defeat you so much as they grind you into tiny shards of psychological wreckage.
-the Denver Post
by Hamer_SpursFan on May 31, 2009 5:12 PM CDT up reply actions
He did a great job of getting the least out of one of the most talented rosters in the league…don’t get me started on this ass clown.
...formerly known as speedostuffer
I wouldn’t call the Cavs one of the most talented rosters… But I don’t think they’re as bad as they looked.
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Dunkin' Cheerleaders
Delonte is seriously underrated. Big Z is a very good starting 5. Ben Wallace is still a Good defender. Verejo is a perfect big guy off the bench, energy rebounding yadda yadda. Wally and Gibson are still a good shooters coming off the bench. Pavolvic is missused like none other. Mo Williams is almost studdly. Lebron is Lebron.
If I were a Cavs fan I’d be calling for Mike Browns head. What does he get paid for? At the end of games in crunch time he doesn’t even draw up plays; his assistants do. The pieces to win a chip are there. Brown is a joke. VanGundy out coached him huge time.
...formerly known as speedostuffer
Szczerbiak couldn’t hit the backside of a bull with a bass fiddle…In the Orlando Series he went 3/12 for 7 points…
You’re being too generous. Ben Wallace is pretty much like Horry in his last season: a walking, breathing mummy. Wallie and Gibson, as turnitin said, shot horribly in the playoffs, and Pavlobrick was horrible when he had a more important role in the team. Delonte and Mo went from underrated to overrated during the ASW, and they failed to come through in the playoffs.
I like Big Z and Varejao (actually, I hate Varejao, but you know what I mean), and I’m certainly not saying that Mike Brown is a good coach. He’s okay, but certainly not the coach of the year.
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Dunkin' Cheerleaders
I remember seeing a play in game 3 or 4 where Orlando missed a shot and Dwight out jumped Wallace and another Cav and tipped the ball and then jumped again and grabbed it. I just thought, “if Wallace isn’t getting defensive rebounds, what the hell is the point?”
The magic are a bunch of wussies. They are the 2009 Phoenix Suns. They live and die by the three. ANd their center is soft. HE cant handle the pressure. Lakers in 4
"It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what."
I’m going to call this “sarcasm”.
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Dunkin' Cheerleaders
I think it’s a toss up between delusion and willful ignorance. Or yeah, sarcasm might work, too.
by silverandblack_davis on Jun 1, 2009 1:06 AM CDT up reply actions
Its not sarcasm, I will cheer for the Lakers.
BTW, im like 1-10 this postseason with the teams im cheering for.
"It's a basic truth of the human condition that everybody lies. The only variable is about what."
I dont think he was watching the game 7 performance
"If an expert says it can't be done, get another expert"
- DBG
Lakers In 6
They won’t double as often as the Cavs did because Big Chief Triangle doesn’t like doubling in the post. Howard will have to average 40 points in the first couple of games before Phil does that, and at this point in his career I don’t see that happening as he still has no go to post move. Odom & Ariza match up well with Turkoglou & Lewis so don’t expect a big series from either one of them. I said the Fakers would win it from day one and nothing has happened this season to change my prediction.
"There's a thin line between to laugh with and to laugh at." - Richard Pryor
Go Magic!
If the Magic want to win, they need to take one of the 1st two games and sweep at home. Other than that they’re going to need to get lucky in the last two games. Should be a fun series.
Two more thoughts on the FInals…
The guy who spearheaded Orlandos regular season sweep of the Lakers was Jameer Nelson , who averaged 27.5ppg in those wins…..so itll be tough, but i still picked the Magic in seven..
It was shocking how easy Orlando scored on the leagues best defensive team…The cavaliers really only forced orlando into one bad outing out of the entire series….this is what orlando averaged against Cleveland….
107 pts 55pct
95 pts 48 pct
99 pts 43 pct
116 pts 50pct
102 46 pct
103 pts 46 pct
Thus, Los Angeles will have to rely on outscoring the High scoring ( and defensively solid) magic…
Magic in 6
The Magic will steal one of the first 2 games in LA. Then win game 3 & 5 in Orlando and finish off LA at the Staples center in 6.
Superman wears Manu Ginobili pajamas to bed.
Jameer Nelson is reportedly playing in the Finals. Not entirely unexpected, but it certainly throws a new element into the mix. I wonder if he’ll be effective.
Free James Gist!
Pounding the Rock - where ochlocracy happens. Eat your heart out, California.
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