Orlando Gags Away Game 4, Likely the Series

Orlando's Game 4 overtime loss to the Lakers on Thursday night has to be considered one of the worst losses in recent NBA Finals history. The Magic had numerous opportunities to win the game but failed time after time and now are one loss away from elimination. Orlando's free throw woes became contagious in the 4th quarter as Turkoglu and Howard bricked numerous free throw attempts. Howard's 2 misses from the charity stripe with 10 seconds left in the 4th gave LA a chance to tie and they took advantage. Ironically Howard's missed FT's will go down as the most infamous missed FT's in NBA Finals history since Orlando's Nick Anderson missed 4 consecutive FT's down the strecth in Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals.

With a 12 point lead at halftime, Orlando should not have allowed the outcome of the game to hinge on some missed FT's. The Magic came out uninspired from the start of the 2nd half and quickly ceded control of the game to the Lakers who seemingly erased that halftime lead effortlessly. Watching the game on television, it appeared that there was a lack of energy in the building from the Orlando fans in the 3rd quarter and this could have contributed to the Magic's lackluster 3rd quarter play. The Magic were also hurt by the disappearance of Rashard Lewis who scored only 3 points in regulation. Lewis has been, in my opinion, Orlando's best scorer throughout the postseason and his scoring was missed throughout Game 4.

Orlando's 19 turnovers were a problem throughout Game 4. Rooting for Orlando, it was also frustrating to see the Lakers get numerous second chance opportunities on the offensive end. So many key Lakers possessions were prolonged by offensive rebounds and loose balls that eluded the Magic during broken plays and scramble situations.

Other notes from Game 4:

• Orlando's final possession of the 4th quarter with 4.6 seconds left was atrocious. With the Magic having made so many clutch shots in these situations throughout the playoffs, I had a good feeling that the Magic would win on their final shot. Alas, they struggled mightily inbounding the ball and were stuck with a panicked Mickael Pietrus forcing up a difficult shot. If you recall Denver's turnovers in similar situations in Games 1 and 3 of the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers out-of-bounds plays defense has now helped them win 3 huge games in the playoffs.
• Trevor Ariza continues to play at a surprisingly high level. Ariza shot less than 32% from the 3-point line during the regular season, yet is shooting 48.1% from behind the 3-point line during the playoffs and has made a few big shots. Ariza also has done a lot of the little things well including his defense and rebounding. Although I do want to point out that Ariza has been illegally riding, touching, and hand-checking Hedo Turkoglu all series long when Turkolgu has had the ball. While I am the first guy in the world to complain about ticky-tack fouls, Ariza has been unfairly gaining an advantage with his defensive tactics and should be whistled for the appropriate fouls.
• While Orlando's and Jameer Nelson's defense of Derek Fisher on his game-tying 3-pointer wasn't the greatest, I can still live with the Lakers having that shot. The Magic did the right thing in forcing the ball out of Kobe Bryant's hands and Fisher made a shot that wasn't as easy as it looks. In addition I did not think that this was the best time to use the strategy of fouling with a 3 point lead because the Magic had been struggling from the FT line and there was still about 6 seconds left when Fisher took that shot. Sometimes you have to live with your opponent making a difficult shot.

Lakers vs. Magic - The Real Dream Matchup

After Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic finished off Lebron and the Cavaliers in Game 6 on Saturday to win the Eastern Conference title, we heard a lot of talk about how disappointing it was for the NBA to be deprived of the Kobe-Lebron "dream" NBA Finals matchup. The television ratings will suffer, there will be far less buzz, Nike's Kobe-Lebron puppets ad campaign is ruined, yada, yada, yada. Count me among those who are sick and tired of hearing about television ratings and their relevance in sports today. Whenever we reach a championship series/game in sports today, there is inevitably a discussion of how the television ratings will be and how big or small the markets of the teams are. TV ratings are a good indicator of how many casual fans and women are tuning in and the higher the TV ratings, the higher the league's bottom line will be. The hardcore fans are hoping to see a competitive series and a high caliber of play, and they will be tuning in regardless of how "attractive" the matchup is on paper for the casual fan. The less I hear about televison ratings, the better.

As for the Lakers-Magic matchup, this appears to have the makings of a great series and in my eyes it is the real dream matchup for the NBA. On one side we have the powerful LA Lakers, with their now 30 NBA Finals appearances and their legendary coach and superstar player that many, including myself, love to hate. On the other side we have the Orlando Magic who have never won an NBA Finals game playing in a town known only for Disney World with their Mickey Mouse team name and their sweaty, overweight, "everyman" head coach. For the impartial fans the Magic are the easy team to root for and their bandwagon is filling up fast with myself included as a passenger.

On the court the Magic appear to have the talent and depth to knock off the Lakers. The Magic have been very impressive thus far in the postseason with their ability to knock down the 3 point shot at a high percentage. With contributions from Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Rafer Alston, Mickael Pietrus, and Courtney Lee, the Magic present matchup problems on the perimeter for a Lakers defense that has been carved up at times this postseason. Then consider Dwight Howard who really increased his scoring output against Cleveland and even shot a solid 70% from the foul line in the series. Howard is commanding double teams which is ideal for the Magic with their plethora of accurate 3 point shooters. Orlando had no trouble breaking down Cleveland's highly rated defense in the East Finals and I think Orlando's offense will continue to thrive against Los Angeles.

The Lakers advantage obviously is Kobe Bryant who despite being an arrogant, moody SOB is a tough player to defend and he has the ability to singlehandedly carry the Lakers and get them a title. Unlike Lebron and the Cavaliers, however, Kobe has an elite player alongside him in Pau Gasol. The Lakers' role players, in my opinion, are not anything to write home about. Derek Fisher is only good for hitting wide open jump shots, Bynum is too often invisible on the court, Ariza is overachieving, and I do not think highly of either Shannon Brown or Jordan Farmar.

My pick for the series is the Magic defeating the Lakers in 6 games. The Magic remind me of the 2004 Pistons with their balance, depth, and the way they have been unheralded throughout the season. Those Pistons were also underdogs in the NBA Finals and East Finals, yet pulled the upsets in both. I see the Magic doing the same.