Anyway, my little playoff bracket was fucked by Nike, Vitamin Water, and ESPN's insistence on crowning LeBron king before the Eastern Conference Finals even started. That's okay though, because this match up should be VERY interesting.
With that being said, I want to go ahead and give a warning to all Lakers fans and the general public who are automatically assuming this will be a cake walk now that LeBron isn't around. While the Lakers beat the Cavs both times they played during the regular season (both times by double digits, once when Kobe dislocated his finger and once when Kobe was sick and LeBron was coming off his 50 point triple-double against the Knicks), they also lost to the Magic both times they played (the first time Kobe hit a then season high 41, and the second time Kobe had a triple-double). Let me simplify that for you: Laker 2-0 vs. Cavs, Lakers 0-2 vs. Magic. And, as was proven by the Magic's continued ownership of the Cavs, the regular season does matter. Go ahead and process that.
Now of course there's a bit of a difference between now and then: 1) the Lakers had a healthy Andrew Bynum 2) the Magic had a healthy Jameer Nelson. Lakers faithful can find solace in the fact that Orlando needed every bit of Nelson's 27, 4, and 5 from the first meeting (11-16 from the field, 4-6 from three) and 28, 6, and 8 in from the second meeting (9-18 from the field, 3-6 from three) to take them out, seeing that if Nelson does play he'll be nowhere near that level. BUT at the same time, if Andrew Bynum got bodied by Dwight Howard on a healthy knee (including a 25 point, 20 rebound, 3 block in the second match-up), what can you expect with him playing on a sore knee?? Look for Dwight to be dominant in the paint.
The X-factor in this whole series will be Lamar Odom and what he decides to bring to the table. If the Lakers can get 18, 10, and 6 from him per game off the bench then they should be sitting pretty. If he doesn't show up and gives them 4, 5, and 2 then the Lakers will be in trouble. Odom will also need to show up on the defensive end. He and Trevor Ariza are better match-ups for Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis than Anderson Varejao and Delonte West (seeing that LeBron wanted no part of guarding either) were in the Magic-Cavs series. Hedo and 'Shard won't have as many wide open looks with faster defenders on them... that is, if Odom decides to show up.
At the end of the day, I just don't see Kobe letting another ring pass him by like in his last 2 trips to the Finals. The Magic have already won by just reaching the Finals, but its definitely Kobe's to lose. I'm gonna go with Lakers in 6. (Side note: What's up with people predicting Magic in 7?? Does anyone actually think the Magic would be capable of going into the Staples Center for a game 7 against Kobe and win?? You've GOT to be joking.)
Now, I'll leave you with Kobe Bryant's blatant disrespect of Dwight Howard's existence from wight's rookie year in 2004.