Even though the Lakers have been struggling as of late, Kobe Bryant and company bounced back with a clutch road win versus the second ranked Mavs. Thus, the Los Angeles Lakers will try to win two straight when the Orlando Magic are in town on Tuesday at 3:30 a.m. GMT.

Much like L.A., things have not been going overly well for the Magic in the past few weeks either. In fact, the team around All-Stars Dwight Howard and Vince Carter dropped five of their last seven and subsequently fell to the third place in the Eastern Conference. Most importantly, Orlando’s defense was not nearly as efficient as earlier in the season and allowed their opponent to score over a hundred in four of said losses. Thus, disgruntled head coach Stan van Gundy is considering changes in the Magic’s rotation to ensure a higher energy level on the defensive end of the floor throughout the game. Offensively, the team around Dwight Howard had no problems finding the basket and was led by Vince Carter who averages 17.4 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per contest.

The Lakers on the other hand are less worried about their level of play and the standings as they lead the Western Conference with a 30-9 record halfway through the season. Nonetheless, L.A. had their fair share of problems in the last two weeks and lost four out of five games. However, unlike Orlando, the Lakers’ struggles on the floor can be attributed primarily due to the injuries of Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant. While Gasol did not play at all, Kobe opted to play through a finger injury but lost much of his shooting touch. Moreover, he repeatedly suffered back spasms that further limited his impact on the floor. That said, both players are expected to be game-time decisions on Tuesday night and could very well be the decisive factor when the game between the Lakers and Magic gets underway at Staples Center. Ultimately, Orlando is a legitimate contender and competing with Dwight Howard and company would be a very tough challenge if Phil Jackson’s squad had to play without its best two players.

You can watch all games of the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of NBA live streaming.

Posted: 8th June 2009

Coming off a comfortable 100-75 home win at Staples Center, Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers were able to take a 1-0 NBA Finals lead. Thus, the Orlando Magic are hoping to avoid going down 0-2 in game two on Sunday at 1 a.m. GMT.

There was much discussion about how much resistance the Lakers' could throw Howard’s way, but Phil Jackson's team proved all critics wrong who thought Dwight Howard would have an easy night at Staples Center. More specifically, the Lakers limited Orlando's All-Star center to 1-of-6 shooting from the field and decided to make him earn his points from the free-throw line. Although he had a fairly good night from the charity stripe and pulled down 15 rebounds, he was not able to put up more than 12 points. In contrast, the Lakers' undisputed leader Kobe Bryant had a phenomenal night almost finishing the game with at triple-double of 40 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists on 16-of-34 shooting from the floor. Likewise, Lamar Odom proved to be an excellent contributor from the bench with an 11 points and 15 rebounds performance.

Considering the outcome of game one, the Orlando Magic will have to show drastic improvements if they want to steal home-court advantage from Los Angeles in game two. More specifically, the Magic will have to shoot significantly better than their 29% in game one and create more efficient ball movement. Moreover, Dwight Howard only took a total of six shots the entire game despite not being in foul trouble. Stan van Gundy's team had a lot of success in this year's post-season with their unique outside-in strategy creating open 3-point shots and low-post opportunities for Dwight Howard. Even though the Lakers' showed excellent team defense in game one, it cannot explain the poor performance the Magic showed. Nonetheless, the audience can expect Orlando to be more competitive in game two since the Magic can hardly shoot the ball any worse than in the series opener.

You can watch game two of the NBA Finals right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming. After a 25-point blow out win in game one, the Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to extend their NBA Finals lead on Sunday at Staples Center.

Posted: 5th June 2009

After some intensive weeks of playoffs action it is time for this year’s NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic. Thus, the Lakers will host the Magic in game one on Friday at 2 a.m. GMT at Staples Center.

While the Lakers were the favorites to come out of the Western Conference playoff bracket, very few expected Orlando to make it all the way to the finals. More specifically, it was somewhat surprising that the team around All-Star center Dwight Howard was able to overcome the two top seeds despite having to play without their starting point guard Jameer Nelson. Although the Boston Celtics were shorthanded in their Eastern Conference semi-final series versus the Magic, there was no excuse other than Orlando’s strength in the conference finals win over Cleveland. With a convincing 4-2 series win versus LeBron James and the Cavaliers the Magic made it to the NBA Finals for the second time in franchise history.

Just like in any other playoff series, the finals are expected to come down to taking advantage of match-ups. Both teams have one major mismatch advantage on their side with Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard. Without any doubts, Kobe Bryant has shown many times in NBA history that he can drop 40+ points on any given defender on a good night. Averaging 29.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game he has been one of the most dominant players in this year’s post-season. Howard on the other hand may not be as crafty as Bryant but his immense physical strength makes it nearly impossible to stop him from going to the rim once he catches the ball in the low-post area. Even though it seems fairly unlikely that either team will be able to shutdown the said key players, it will be crucial to contain them to some extent and put pressure on other role players to step up and knock down shots.

Another potential x-factor of this series will be Jameer Nelson who is considered to be a game-time decision after several months of severe injuries. Nelson was one of the most important players throughout the regular season for the Magic and was honored with his first All-Star nomination this year. Even if Stan van Gundy could only send him to the court for a few minutes off the bench each game it would give Orlando’s second unit a distinct advantage. In contrast, the Lakers’ backup players have been fairly quiet in the playoffs so far with Lamar Odom being the only consistent contributor off the bench.

You can watch game one of the NBA Finals right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of live NBA streaming. On Friday night the Orlando Magic will head to Los Angeles for the much anticipated game one of this year’s NBA Finals.