Whew! Two down two to go!

I watched the entirety of Game 2 last night and I am feeling much better(now that I'm recovering.)

We played a tight game with an Orlando team that didn't even try to win Game 1 and then turned around and did as much right as they could.

They didn't play a perfect game and neither did we, but they allowed themselves plenty of opportunities to get a decent cushion and they continually missed free throws and easy looks.

Then, they almost won the game on an inbounds play that was brilliant (actually, those are Kobe's words, but I agree) and then that opportunity was squandered by Courtney Lee. Reflecting on the game I bet alot of people are going to be saying "Oooh, the Lakers are in for a fight now....oooh my gosh!"

Really, are they really in for a fight? Without Rashard Lewis' outburst in the first half the Magic would have been down an easy 15. Again!

Do they play better in Orlando? Oh yeah. We were at Disney World during Game 6 of the East Finals and I listened to the entire second half on the radio(while charging Heather's Zune in the car) and I've got to tell you, Amway Arena is loud. Half the time I couldn't hear the local announcers. But, can the Magic win Game 3 just because they're at home? I don't know.

I'm, hopefully, going out to see Game 4 on Thursday and I would love for that to be a game to finish a sweep of this series. Orlando is a really good team, better than Cleveland, but they aren't better than the Lakers.

Last year we found out that the Celtics were better than the Lakers in The Finals. This year we're finding out that the Lakers are the best team in basketball. I heard Stephen A. Smith make that comment in April ("The Lakers are the best team in Basketball.") and as good as that made me feel I was curious. What about Cleveland, Boston and Orlando, who were torching the East?

Well, we found out. Boston is nothing without KG (they better thank their lucky stars they didn't lose to Chicago), Cleveland is a LeBron who doesn't know how to close and a bunch of garbage, and Orlando is the most talented team in the East whose only real matchup advantage against LA is Dwight over Bynum.

Last night I heard Mike, Mark and Jeff comment more than once that Stan Van was probably begging the officials to let the players play through fouls in the post so Andrew Bynum wouldn't get into foul trouble because then Lamar Odom would come in and he was KILLING them. Man I hope we can pay him this offseason. I fear that if he leaves it might be like James Posey leaving Boston.

Bynum is part of the future with Pau and Trevor Ariza(who is playing like an animal in the playoffs) but I don't expect him to get it at 21. After he gains 50 pounds of muscle, then I'll be expecting it. In the meantime, Magic fans can enjoy their one matchup advantage as the walk towards another loss in the NBA Finals. I was being nice when I thought we'd win 5 because I thought Orlando would win Game 3 at home. No longer. If you saw how deflated they were after Courtney Lee missed that layup (a hard one, but still, a layup) then you'd know what I mean.

Lakers sweep.