2009 NBA FINALS BREAKDOWN
On Thursday,June 4th the 2009 NBA Finals will get underway.In this piece I will breakdown the series looking at historical and statistical angles and then give my selection to win the NBA championship.
The 2009 NBA Finals pits the LA Lakers vs the Orlando Magic. The Lakers are the #1 seed coming out of the west,while Orlando fresh off their upset of the #1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers hold the #3 seed. The Lakers finished 6 games better in the regular season than the Magic. All time in the NBA finals teams that finished 6 games better have won 15 of 19 times.The Lakers have home court in the NBA finals which is played in the 2-3-2 format. Teams with the home court have won the series at a 45-17 clip, good for 72.6%. In general the Home teams in game 1 excel going 46-16 for 74.2%. The Lakers have played in 23 NBA finals series going 9-14 all time. In any 7 game playoff series they are 61-28 and 58-31 in Game 1 match ups. A very telling stat to this series may just be game 1. Coach Phil Jackson has never lost a series when his teams win game 1, he is 43-0 in these series. Orlando is playing in their second NBA Finals. They lost their only other appearance to the Houston Rockets. The Magic are 7-5 in all seven game playoff series and have an identical 7-5 game 1 record in these 12 encounters.
In the regular season affairs between these 2 teams the Magic held their own. They won both games this year after trailing by 8 and 9 points at halftime. Both games were closely contested with the Magic winning 109-103 and 106-103. Orlando had advantages in several key statistical categories. They out shot the Lakers 46 to 40%,including 3-point shooting. On the Boards Dwight Howard and the Magic held their own pulling down more boards in both games. Dwight Howard was hard to contain for the Lakers. He pulled down 18 points and 12 boards and a monster 25 point 20 board master piece. Interestingly the Magic were led in scoring by Jameer Nelson in both games.He scored 27 and 28 points and gave D.Fisher fits. Nelson had a full scale practice on Tuesday morning and declared that he's committed to playing extensive minutes in this series. The Lakers were led in scoring both times by Kobe Bryant which comes as no surprise. He scored 41 points and 28 respectively, however he was unable to lead the Lakers to victory as the Lakers blew halftime leads in both games. Coach Stan Vangundy, a master motivator has the Magic clicking on all cylinders right now. Coach Jackson takes a philosophical point of view to these games,never getting to emotionally attached to the results of any one game.
The Lakers have been installed as 2.5 to 1 favorites to win this series. The fact that they lost both regular season games to the Magic is the only thing that makes the line that low. Had the Lakers won even one of the games they could easily be 5-1 in this series. The Lakers biggest advantage in this series is last years loss to a better Celtics team.That experience provides the motivation and experience that the upstart Magic will not have. The Magic will play the Lakers hard and will win their share of games. However in the end the Lakers, who are a tad better than last years team will prevail. The home court in the NBA finals will be once again to much to overcome. The Magic must win game 1 to have a shot at winning the championship.If they do not,they will not win. The LA Lakers in seven games is my selection this year, in what should be a highly contested game by game series.
Good luck in the Nba finals GC-
On Thursday,June 4th the 2009 NBA Finals will get underway.In this piece I will breakdown the series looking at historical and statistical angles and then give my selection to win the NBA championship.
The 2009 NBA Finals pits the LA Lakers vs the Orlando Magic. The Lakers are the #1 seed coming out of the west,while Orlando fresh off their upset of the #1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers hold the #3 seed. The Lakers finished 6 games better in the regular season than the Magic. All time in the NBA finals teams that finished 6 games better have won 15 of 19 times.The Lakers have home court in the NBA finals which is played in the 2-3-2 format. Teams with the home court have won the series at a 45-17 clip, good for 72.6%. In general the Home teams in game 1 excel going 46-16 for 74.2%. The Lakers have played in 23 NBA finals series going 9-14 all time. In any 7 game playoff series they are 61-28 and 58-31 in Game 1 match ups. A very telling stat to this series may just be game 1. Coach Phil Jackson has never lost a series when his teams win game 1, he is 43-0 in these series. Orlando is playing in their second NBA Finals. They lost their only other appearance to the Houston Rockets. The Magic are 7-5 in all seven game playoff series and have an identical 7-5 game 1 record in these 12 encounters.
In the regular season affairs between these 2 teams the Magic held their own. They won both games this year after trailing by 8 and 9 points at halftime. Both games were closely contested with the Magic winning 109-103 and 106-103. Orlando had advantages in several key statistical categories. They out shot the Lakers 46 to 40%,including 3-point shooting. On the Boards Dwight Howard and the Magic held their own pulling down more boards in both games. Dwight Howard was hard to contain for the Lakers. He pulled down 18 points and 12 boards and a monster 25 point 20 board master piece. Interestingly the Magic were led in scoring by Jameer Nelson in both games.He scored 27 and 28 points and gave D.Fisher fits. Nelson had a full scale practice on Tuesday morning and declared that he's committed to playing extensive minutes in this series. The Lakers were led in scoring both times by Kobe Bryant which comes as no surprise. He scored 41 points and 28 respectively, however he was unable to lead the Lakers to victory as the Lakers blew halftime leads in both games. Coach Stan Vangundy, a master motivator has the Magic clicking on all cylinders right now. Coach Jackson takes a philosophical point of view to these games,never getting to emotionally attached to the results of any one game.
The Lakers have been installed as 2.5 to 1 favorites to win this series. The fact that they lost both regular season games to the Magic is the only thing that makes the line that low. Had the Lakers won even one of the games they could easily be 5-1 in this series. The Lakers biggest advantage in this series is last years loss to a better Celtics team.That experience provides the motivation and experience that the upstart Magic will not have. The Magic will play the Lakers hard and will win their share of games. However in the end the Lakers, who are a tad better than last years team will prevail. The home court in the NBA finals will be once again to much to overcome. The Magic must win game 1 to have a shot at winning the championship.If they do not,they will not win. The LA Lakers in seven games is my selection this year, in what should be a highly contested game by game series.
Good luck in the Nba finals GC-