The Los Angeles Lakers will beat the Orlando Magic in seven games, thanks to a three-deep set of big men with 16 fouls to give, Lamar Odom and a solid supporting cast.
Don't get Peter da Prince wrong, I see the Magic proving to be just as formidable of a threat for the Lakers as the Rockets were, as Mickael Pietrus is an extremely underrated defender who will be able to pester Kobe Bryant (though he won't be able to stop him) and Dwight Howard should be productive in every single game (Howard hitting his free throws will be crucial for the Magic).
However, Bryant should be able to score a good amount of points in every game and so should Gasol, and Odom, Shannon Brown, Luke Walton, Andrew Bynum (maybe), Derek Fisher and Sasha Vujacic should each be good for at least one solid game so as to give the Lakers a win or two if Bryant or Gasol has an off night.
The Magic killed the Cavaliers with three point shooting, but the Lakers (while not playing good inside defense) have limited the Jazz, Rockets and Nuggets to 30-percent shooting from beyond the arc, which is not a good sign for Hedo Turkoglu, Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee. Expect Vujacic to do a good job on defense against whichever one of these players he is guarding, and for Phil Jackson to give D.J. Mbenga (a solid defender) a good amount of minutes against Howard.
The Magic will only have a shot at winning this series if Rashard Lewis has three 25-plus point games, and I don't see that happening, as Odom has the ability to step out and guard him from the perimeter, something that Anderson Varejao and Ben Wallace couldn't do against him in the Eastern Conference Finals. Of course the Magic could also give the Lakers fits with Howard and the Polish Hammer (errr, Sausage) Marcin Gortat in the game at the same time against the soft-Lakers big men, and if Jameer Nelson can prove to be an anti-Bynum and play at an All-Star level right away after four months of no real competition.
However, the Lakers bench should be good enough to overcome any of these afore-mentioned scenarios for two games, and Bryant and Gasol should have monster games to carry them to two more victories and the NBA Championship. The Lakers should win games one and two before the Magic win games three, five and six (the Lakers will win game four) and then the Lakers will take game seven by ten-plus points to be finals champions.
The Lakers will win their 15th NBA Championship on Thursday, June 18th. Lock it like a double clip from an AK-47, as I guarantee a Lakers championship.
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