Los Angeles at Orlando (06/11/2009)

A team shot 67% and won the game by 4... Can they shoot 67% or higher again?!? sure they can, but I wouldnt bet on it!

Kobe had a great 1st half but 2nd half wasnt so good and overall, I would say Kobe played " not-so-good".... Can Kobe have another  "not-so-good" game? Sure he can, BUT I WOULDN'T BET ON IT!!

LAKERS ML =

It's about time i ran across a different viewpoint. And it sounded good as if you knew what you were talking about, until i ran across the part where you mentioned magic tying series 2-2 and then going back to LA.  That's when I realized that you're a MAJOR DOUCHEBAG. Listen folks, if you don't even know how the finals are played out, then don't offer any of your opinions / suggestions. Watch more basketball and learn the basics before you waste people's time. 

Seems like the general consensus looks at this game as such:  "Wow, the magic shot their brains out and still only won by 4. If Kobe would've made those free throws, well then Lakers would've won"

Too bad there were over a dozen other factors in that game, so you cant simplify it like that. How about the fact that Howard has yet to have a standout game and they're still in this series?  How about the fact that the magic turned the ball over 13 times and won by 4?  And most importantly, how about the fact that magic only hit a handful of 3's and won by 4?

The true value is to take a championship level team at home minus low points. 

BET MAGIC -2.  GET PAID.

Sorry..I meant 1st 3 halves..

Howard's not going to have a standout game in this series. The Lakers have too many guys that can guard him (Gasol, Bynum, even Odom for a little) or foul him. That's why Stan Van was smart to run the offense through him and let him pass out of the double teams to set his teammates up.

Check the boxscore too. The Lakers had 13 turnovers themselves.

They may have made only a handful of 3's but they only put up 14 of them. They shot 35.7% from 3-point land. That's right on par for their playoff average of 36.7%.

The Magic should've blown out the Lakers in this game and were still very lucky to win by 4. If Kobe doesn't turn that ball over at the end of the game we could be looking at another overtime and a possible LA 3-0 lead in the series.

What worries me even more is the Magic defense. They haven't held LA below 46% shooting in any of these 3 games yet. LA is shooting a ridiculous 48% from the field for the series. They're also averaging over 101 point per game in this series. The Magic had only been giving up 93.7 ppg this post season prior to this series.

Also prior to this series the Magic had been averaging 98.5 ppg in the playoffs. In this series they're only averaging 91.6 ppg.

I expected the Magic to play well last game (look at my game 3 post). They were due for a hot shooting game. But when a team shoots 75% for a half and 63% for a game they should be able to win by more than 4. And don't think Kobe is going to forget about his play last game. He started out blazing by getting 17 in the 1st quarter and then completely fell off. He scored just 10 points in the second half, went only 4 of 15 from the field after the first quarter and went 5-10 from the line in the game. That won't happen again. I guarantee it.

LA & UNDER