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Coming off a clutch 99-91 overtime win in game five, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers are just one more win away from winning the NBA Finals. Orlando on the other hand will try to stay alive in the series when they will host the Lakers for their third consecutive home game on Sunday at 2 a.m. GMT.

Obviously inspired by their convincing game three win, the Magic came out of the locker room with a lot of energy and confidence which led to an early lead in the first half of the game. More specifically, Orlando managed to go up by double-digits half-way through the second quarter. However, the Lakers slowly started to get their act together and began cutting down the deficit. In the third period Trevor Ariza hit back-to-back threes and Los Angeles went on to take back the lead. As the clock was winding down in the fourth quarter, game three turned into a nail-biter and neither team could separate itself by more than one or two possessions. With 4.6 seconds remaining in regulation Derek Fisher managed to hit a clutch shot from beyond the arc to tie the game at 87-87 and send it to overtime. Much like in game two, the Magic did not appear to have the necessary experience to make crucial plays under pressure which resulted in a 99-91 win for the Lakers.

All-Star Center Dwight Howard had another phenomenal game and managed to put up 16 points and pull down 21 rebounds. Moreover, he set a new NBA Finals record with a total of nine blocked shots, just one shy of a triple-double. Unfortunately for the Magic Howard missed two free-throws with 11 seconds remaining in regulation that would have evened the series at two games a piece. For the Lakers Kobe Bryant led all scores with 32 points, 8 assists and 7 boards. Likewise, Pau Gasol and Trevor Ariza added 16 points each to help the Lakers come back after being down by 12 points in the first half.

Considering the outcome of the first four games of the series everything points to another NBA title for the Los Angeles Lakers. Not only do they lead the series 3-1 but even more importantly they played much better when the game was on the line and thus were able to secure two clutch overtime wins. Even though the Magic might be able to get another home win on Saturday it seems fairly unlikely that they will win three in a row to clinch their first NBA championship in franchise history.

You can watch game five of the NBA Finals right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming. After another tough overtime loss the Orlando Magic will face the Lakers in game five on Sunday hoping to avoid elimination.

Posted: 12th June 2009

Despite a tremendous amount of pressure prior to game three the Magic were able to secure a 108-104 home win to cut the Lakers’ NBA Finals lead to 2-1. Thus Orlando will have the opportunity to tie the series at two games a piece when the Lakers will be in town for their second road game on Friday at 2 a.m. GMT.

While the Magic were not able to find their shooting touch in the first two games of the series they certainly did in game three at Amway Arena. In fact Orlando set a new NBA finals field goal percentage record with 63% and was able to clinch a much needed win. At the beginning of the game it looked like it was going to be another night where Kobe Bryant would be unstoppable, but he cooled down after scoring 17 points in the first quarter. Although Bryant finished the game with 31 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds he shot only 11-of-25 from the floor and missed five free-throws. With three minutes remaining in regulation the teams were tied 99-99 but unlike in most post-season games so far the Lakers could not close out the game. One key to Orlando’s success was the evenly distributed scoring as five players scored 18 points or more. Especially Rafer Alston bounced back after two poor performances and managed to put up 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting as well as dishing out 4 assists. Likewise, franchise cornerstone Dwight Howard had another huge double-double with 21 points and 14 rebounds.

Looking forward to game four, both teams can be expected to make some adjustments. Although the Magic showed an excellent performance in game three they will not be able to rely on shooting over 60 percent from the field to clinch a rather close four-point win again. Therefore, Stan van Gundy’s team will have to work on keeping up their energy level on the defensive end of the floor throughout the game and not just during certain periods. The Lakers on the other hand will most likely be looking to do a better job of preventing Dwight Howard from catching the ball in the low-post area with more aggressive double-teams. Moreover, Los Angeles’ role players might have to assume a more active role as it is questionable whether Kobe Bryant will be able to carry them single-handedly to a championship.

You can watch game four of the NBA Finals right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming. Coming off a crucial home win in game three, the Orlando Magic will try to even the NBA Finals series versus the Lakers on Saturday.

Posted: 10th June 2009

Despite a great effort in game two the Orlando Magic were unable to prevent the Lakers from taking a 2-0 series lead after a 101-96 overtime win at Staples Center. Thus, Dwight Howard and the Magic will have to deal with a lot of pressure in their home opener on Wednesday at 2 a.m. GMT.

Unlike in game one the Orlando Magic were able to compete with the Lakers until the very last second but ultimately could not come away with a win on the road. Right from the start both teams were playing with a lot of energy on the defensive end of the floor which resulted in a fairly low-scoring game and neither team being able to take a double-digit lead. In the fourth quarter the game turned into a nail-biter with the lead going back and forth as the clock was winding down. The game was tied at 88-88 when Magic guard Courtney Lee missed potential game winning lay-up with less than a second remaining in regulation. Orlando made some adjustments to prevent Kobe Bryant from having another 40 point night which worked to some extent. However, Kobe was able to adapt to Orlando’s game plan and focused on creating open shots for his teammates until he took over as primary scoring threat in overtime. Ultimately, the Lakers were able to pull away half-way through overtime and managed to secure a clutch 101-96 home win.

Kobe Bryant finished the game with 29 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds but also turned the ball over seven times. All-Star forward Pau Gasol added another 24 points and 10 boards while Lamar Odom had another terrific night off the bench with 19 points and 8 rebounds. In contrast, Dwight Howard was able to improve significantly compared to game one and managed to go for a 17 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 4 blocked shots night. Likewise, Rashard Lewis was on fire finishing the game with 34 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists.

Without any doubts the Orlando Magic will have to win game three at home to stay in the series as a 0-3 deficit would nearly be impossible to overcome versus a team as good as the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the Magic have shown throughout the post-season that they are able to deal with pressure and are hoping to get a lift from the support of their home crowd in Orlando. One flaw in their game plan which Stan van Gundy will have to address until Wednesday is the lack of consistent point guard decision making. While Jameer Nelson is still banged up, Rafer Alston was not able to knock down open shots which led to the Magic playing without a point guard on the floor for a significant amount of time. Even though Hedo Turkoglu did a great job for a big man handling the ball and calling plays, it remains questionable whether this approach will be the solution for the remainder of this NBA Finals series.

You can watch game three of the NBA Finals right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming. Leading the series 2-0, the Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to further extend their NBA Finals lead in game three at Amway Arena.