NBA Finals: Bloguin picks

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Written by Don

Thursday, 04 June 2009 22:20

All comes down to this... LA Lakers vs Orlando Magic. Here's what Bloguin thinks happens...

Participating blogs - Detroit4lyfe, Curse of Cleveland, 2nd Round Reach, Hoop Heads North, The Strap, BlueBlitz, TPSBM, A Stern Warning, TWolves Blog... and yours truly.

Dave Kelsey - TWolves Blog

Orlando Magic in 7
Just a feeling, I guess. No one thought they'd beat Cleveland, especially not to advance to the Finals. The Lakers have struggled at times in the playoffs, and seem to have problems maintaining their intensity and focus. Pau Gasol has a BRUTAL match-up problem against either Dwight Howard at the 5 or Rashard Lewis at the 4. Both greatly favor Orlando. I like what the Magic have done so far, and they seem to be playing as the best team so far these playoffs.

Mookie - A Stern Warning

Lakers in 7

The Magic took out two regular season games with Jameer Nelson being a big part of both wins. Even if he does return, he won't be at full strength. Dwight Howard will again dominate Pau Gasol and what exists of Andrew Bynum's battered, unfit body. How well Pietrus defends Kobe will go a long way to deciding this series -- as will how Ariza and Odom handle Turkoglu and Lewis. Ultimately the battle-tested Lakers will get this, behind Kobe's driving force -- however it won't be easy. If the Lakers give up one at home early, it could be all over Orlando's way in their three at home.

Taylor Herrin - The Strap

Lake Show in 6. Kobe gets his title without Shaq. Similar to when KG yelled "anything is possible" at the camera last year, Kobe will this year look into the camera and say, "Shaq - tell me how my ass tastes." It will be amazing.

Kirk - Curse of Cleveland

Cavaliers in 7

Wait.. I just woke up in a cold sweat and realized that's no longer possible. DAMN!

Seriously, Lakers in 6

When the Lakers want to play, they're hands down the best, most talented team. Orlando shot absolutely scorching for most of the series to send my guys home, so I think they're due for a couple of scoring funks. Dwight Howard won't find navigating the paint as easy against Bynum, Gasol, and Odom compared to Z, Varejao, and Big Ben.

Finals MVP.. *sigh*.. Kobe Bryant of course. It's a silly question because if LA wins, 95% chance it's Bryant. If Magic win, 90% chance it's Howard.

Brendan - 2nd Round Reach

Los Angeles Lakers in 7

Maybe I'm putting more anxiety into this pick than is necessary, but I’ve become quite alarmed at the number of people I see picking the Lakers to win this series in 5 or even 4 games. Let me just lay something out for all y’all: The Orlando Magic didn’t get this far into the postseason by being lucky. Dwight Howard has proving that his “next level” means being able to carry his team a shot at a title, Stan Van Gundy could very well be an offensive genius (or, you know, not) and one cannot possibly underestimate the effectiveness of the Rashard Lewis/Hedo Turkoglu pairing by now, right?

And let us not forget that all the talk of the Magic being a great matchup vs Cleveland and a terrible one against LA assumes that Lamar Odom is going to show up for a couple of games with a belly full of fire (and sweet, sweet candy), Trevor Ariza continues to hit big shots when they matter, and that Pau Gasol’s “finesse” game will be enough to put up points around that brick in the middle with the Superman cape.

Oh, right, and Kobe. Yeeeaaahhh… he’s gonna go off.

Still, I think that this will finally be the epic Finals that we were promised last year. This series could quite possibly have everything: Closely contested games that are decided in the last few minutes, big breaks at home, controversial calls, overtimes, dueling superstars, role-player heroics, embattled antiheroes, doomed crusaders and 7- yes SEVEN- rounds of pure, unadulterated basketball joy.

And in the end, we will see LA victorious, to be both redeemed for their recent past and vilified for the foreseeable future, just as the NBA Gods intended.