Going into The NBA Finals, it’s always fun to go back and look at how the teams performed head-to-head in the regular season. For this year’s edition of The Finals, the Magic beat the Lakers in both games head-to-head—both coming down to the wire. But before you put too much stock in the games they played against one another, just remember they haven’t faced each other since mid-January. A lot has changed since then—for both teams.
The last time these two teams played against one another was 61 games ago. Just how long ago was that? Andrew Bynum was still playing before he injured his knee and Jameer Nelson was the all-star point guard for the Magic. In both games, Jameer Nelson was the best player on the court for Orlando. Since then, Nelson went down with a season-ending shoulder injury and Bynum has been injured and recovered from an MCL tear. The Magic’s starting lineup has changed as they went out and acquired Rafer Alston to replace Nelson as the team’s starting point guard. On the Lakers side of the ball, Bynum STILL hasn’t returned to the level that he was playing at when he went down. Needless to say, a lot has happened since then.
Here are some highlights of the two games between the Magic and the Lakers this season. You’re welcome to make judgments for yourself!
1st game in Orlando (12/20/08)
The first game between Orlando and Los Angeles was the 2nd game of a back-to-back for the Lakers. They lost the first game in the final seconds to the Miami Heat 89-87. The following night, the Lakers lost again in the final seconds to the Magic 106-103. 2nd game in LA (1/16/09)
Something to think about concerning the game in January in Los Angeles—the Lakers next game was the much anticipated (and much hyped) game when the Cavaliers came to town. What a great comparison—in the regular season game you could say that they were looking past the Magic after they got off to a strong first half.
The Lakers can use that as an excuse for a regular season game if they want. But if L.A. lets down in any way, shape or form because the Cavaliers were eliminated in the Eastern Finals, the Magic will make this a quick series.
After the Magic won the game in Los Angeles, they were able to travel to Denver and beat the other Western Conference Final participant on the road. But after those two strong games, they followed it up with their only 2 game losing streak of the season (until the final days of the season). Apparently, both teams are capable of letdowns.
Here’s the full schedule for this year’s NBA Finals. As always, it’ll be a 2-3-2 home court advantage situation (in this case, for the Lakers).
| Game 1 | June 4 | Thursday | 6:00 | @ LA | |
| Game 2 | June 7 | Sunday | 5:00 | @ LA | |
| Game 3 | June 9 | Tuesday | 6:00 | @ ORL | |
| Game 4 | June 11 | Thursday | 6:00 | @ ORL | |
| Game 5 | June 14 | Sunday | 5:00 | @ ORL | If Necessary |
| Game 6 | June 16 | Tuesday | 6:00 | @ LA | If Necessary |
| Game 7 | June 18 | Thursday | 6:00 | @ LA | If Necessary |
• All Times Pacific
• All Games televised on ABC
