Destiny Magic?

Something happened on the way to the NBA Finals. Neither the Boston Celtics nor the LeBron Cavaliers made it to face the Kobe Lakers.

Actually no one should be surprised. Well not totally anyway. I was fairly certain that without Jameer Nelson at the point, the Orlando Magic would struggle with the 76ers and fall to the Kevin Garnett-less Celtics.

Well the Sixers did give the magic a tough match up. But the Magic gutted out the Celtics in 7 great games. I know missing Kevin Garnett is huge but I thought that Big Baby Davis, Kendrick Perkins, PJ Brown, Pat O'Bryant, and Scott Pollard were enough big bodies and length to hang with the 3 towers of Orlando. Dwight Howard the beast, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rashard Lewis. Handling them means more than height and post presence but some ability away from the basket.

Rafer Alston was brought in to fill in for the injured Jameer Nelson and he played pretty well. Rookie Coutrney Lee stepped up for Orlando also. The Magic took down the defending champs. Next up the destiny headed Cavaliers.

Not so fast. I thought Boston would face Cleveland and go down. But the Magic match up against Cleveland spelled doom for the Cav's. Why? Because they do not have the front line to stop the Magic threesome. Cleveland big men Ben Wallace and Zydrunas Ilgauskas play like they're 97 years old and are no match for Howard, Turkoglu, and Lewis anywhere on the floor. And their other big of note Anderson Verejao is more of a bench player with some post presence. He is not a bad player but the Magic front is too much for him without help.

Next up come the Lakers and the NBA Finals on the line. This match up is intriguing because LA is the more experienced team with a big time Coach and an All World player in Kobe Bryant. But the Magic just discarded a mega star in James. However Kobe will have help.

Up front the Lakers have Pau Gasol who at 7 ft has the length and athleticism to hold his own. Lamar Odom, who is willing to do the dirty work. Another 7 footer, Andrew Bynum is athletic like Gasol and can play underneath and away from the basket. The test is whether Gasol and Bynum can match the physicality of Howard, Turkoglu, and Lewis. It should be interesting. Because the Magic's bigs will have to stay with Bynum, Gasol and somewhat Odom when the Lakers have the ball.

Another x factor is if Jameer Nelson can play some. He has reportedly been practicing hard and may get some minutes. That would give an enormous mental boost for he is the heart of the Magic according to the team and management.

The other thing to watch is the Lakers can score at will but sometimes get moody about defense much to Head Coach Phil Jackson's chagrin. During the post season however the Lakers have averaged 102.9 points scored and held opponents to 96.3. A +6.6 difference.

Orlando has been scoring at a 98.5 clip and holding opponents to 93.7 points. And honestly the West may be superior overall but the East is more physical. The Magic I believe can play a Western with the physical play of the East.

This could come down to Howard vs Kobe on paper but I think this will be a matter of if the Magic can make it rain 3 pointers at a consistency they have thus far combined with Howard controlling the paint. Which he will do against Gasol and Bynum. But will they give Howard fits when the Lakers have the ball?

Predictability would say the Lakers will win in 6 but I think the Magic win this in 7!