"Tonight's the Night"

That's right. Tonight's the night. It's the night that this series becomes a legit series or is declared over. It's sometimes amazing how quickly people will dismiss a team. Sure, as a Laker fan I have been talking some serious ****. "The Magic are just not on their level", "Dwight Howard is more like Wonder Woman than Superman", etc, etc. But really, aside from Game 1's complete domination, this series isn't quite over yet. The Lakers did what they SHOULD of done: won the first 2 games at home. Sure it puts them in the driver's seat, but it's not like it's over yet.

Let's remember back to the 2006 finals. Dallas goes up 2-0 on the Heat. They lose the series 4-2. While the Lakers aren't that Dalals team, and I'm not saying this Orlando team has anyone like Dwayne Wade or Shaq, but this team is far from giving up. Hell, even last years finals was somewhat similar. The Lakers lost to Boston in a somewhat disappointing fashion in both games at Boston. Down 2-0 they came home, won game 3, SHOULD have won game 4 ( yes, I still have nightmares from being at that game), and then won game 5. Series at 3-2 going back to Boston. Now while they could of been up 3-2 going back to the East coast, it was still a competitive series.

Don't expect anything less out of this Orlando squad. They have shown throughout the playoffs that they can bounce back, and we're talking with a vengeance here. Multiple times the suffered bad, double digit losses (and a Lebron James buzzer-beater that could literally shatter a teams morale), and the following games came out fired up, hot, and executing on both ends. Expect nothing less.

I honestly, at this point, expected no different. Orlando looked like the newly acclimated "best team in the East", and played like it as well. They appeared quite jittery in Game 1, possibly intimidated by the situation. Game 2 looked a lot different. Howard was still Wonder Woman, but Rashard Lewis was Superman and the rest of the team looked much better. I expect this team to continue that play on their home-court tonight. Great team's built like the Orlando Magic tend to hit their open 3's at home.

Of course, Dwight Howard might of left the kryptonite in Los Angeles as well. He could come out with a 30 point, 20 rebound performance to lead the way for Orlando. Van Gundy is a smart, savvy coach that knows how to counter, scheme, and execute. Expect no less here in the finals. This Orlando team is far from accepting a defeat to the best team in the NBA. Orlando has too much talent, too much offense, and too much fire to expect any different.

Am I saying they will win tonight? Possibly. As a Laker fan, I tend to impulsively think otherwise, but then I put on that little rational cap. For us Lakers to beat Orlando tonight, we are going to have to play like we did in Game 1, if not better. Orlando is going to hit shots, get behind their home-crowd allowing their role players to get a bit more comfortable and step-up, and expect their stars to be more aggressive. That means the Lakers have to counter.

Kobe needs to show up and have a very productive, and efficient night. If he scores 30, it needs to be on 20 shots. If he scores 40, it needs to be on 25 shots. I think Kobe knows this is a game that can change the outlook of the series, and I predict he comes out firing on all cylinders. I do have this feeling that our role players(yes, including you "El Machino" who can't hit **** from anywhere on the court) might struggle a bit tonight. For us to win, not only does Kobe need to have a great game, but Gasol needs to establish himself inside like this is a brand new game. The inside/out is so important for the Lakers offense running at a high level. That means Bynum's post game needs to be working a bit as well. And of course, it wouldn't hurt if "El Machino" could get a mechanic out to work on him. It woulld be nice to see him show up someday.

Most important thing for the Lakers tonight: Defense. They need to play that aggressive, swarming, trapping defense we've seen them play off and on. They need to continue forcing rushed shots, turnovers, and convert those plays into easy baskets. I'd say if we can force 16 turnovers tonight and get some good fast-break points we are in the drivers seat. The Lakers need to harness all these things and execute it for 48 minutes. Any less and it's as good as Orlando's game tonight.

But now, with all that being said, here is what I predict as the outcome:

Lakers: 98 Orlando: 94

Kobe: 38 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block.

It's up to you God...........