ORLANDO -- Phil Jackson might not be around to see this through – how about Pat Riley for his replacement? – but it looks like the Lakers are well positioned to become the first team to successfully defend an NBA title since they made it three in a row earlier this decade.
All the key guys will be back next season. Mark it down. Winning will make it happen.
Whenever the Lakers win this 2009 title – Game 5, 6 or 7, take your choice -- they will go into the summer prepared to start talking about a repeat.
Free agency doesn't scare them. Not when you're one of the richest franchises in the league, determined to keep this title run going. Not when they saw what happened to the Celtics, who let role-playing James Posey leave in free agency after they won a championship, only to regret his absence all season.
It's hard to set Game 1 of the NBA Finals aside, given that the Lakers blow-out counts just as much as either subsequent squeaker. But Adonal Foyle of the Magic has admitted the Game 1 atmosphere "suffocated" his team, so I feel better about assuming Games 2 and 3 tell us more about these teams going forward.
With that in mind, I decided to take a look at which players have performed best in the two close games using two different types of measurements: a weighted box score metric developed by John Hollinger, and the ever-controversial plus-minus. Who looks good in both? Neither? A mixed bag? Results can be found after the jump.
Bad teams don't reach the NBA Finals. Sometimes they just look that way. You don't get this far without being exceptional.
It's just that one team in the 2009 Finals has considerably more motivation to win, considerably more at stake, and is much more emotionally involved. And that's not going to change.
The Lakers come into the 2009 NBA Finals against the Orlando Magic as the favorites. Back in October, many believed the Lakers would be playing in June, and sure enough, here they are.
The Magic, on the other hand, weren't expected to be here. It was supposed to be the Cavaliers, and if it wasn't them, then it was supposed to be the Celtics.
But the Magic are here and fully deserving – even if we're not sure what to expect from them.
The Larry O'Brien itself is plenty of motivation for the participants in the 2009 Finals. But there will also be a few individual goals driving those involved.
Kobe Bryant: The commercial failure of Kobe Doin' Work made it apparent No. 24 needs much more face time. Can he get an ad campaign, maybe something with a puppet? It's evident Kobe can only get the media and popular culture attention he deserves by winning a championship. (Let's be honest, though: after that 2002 championship jacket, Kobe doesn't deserve to touch the trophy ever again.)
Andrew Bynum: Drew really needs Kareem to get off his back. Oh, did I say Kareem? I meant Nicole Narain. It's hard to show on the pick-and-roll with a playmate on your shoulders!
OK, so far as I can tell, no Orlando Magic player has yet to utter "We're just happy to be here," when asked about the NBA Finals.
But you know darn well they're happy to be here. They knocked off the defending champion Boston Celtics, then took it to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been preparing since October for the NBA Finals; the Orlando Magic have been preparing since Sunday. That's just one reason the Lakers are going to win this thing.
It took a day or so to get out of conference finals mode and get into NBA Finals mode. Time to start thinking Lakers-Magic.
Sure, there were plenty of fans and media (here) who anticipated a Cleveland-L.A. Finals. But after watching the Cavaliers stumble against Orlando, it's become obvious that the Lakers-Magic should be more competitive than the series just about everyone seemed to want.
There's a good chance that at some point during the NBA Finals -- or likely before they even start -- there will be talk of whether or not the Lakers are tough enough to win a championship.
And there should be that kind of talk. But it wasn't even an issue against the Denver Nuggets.
The Lakers are going to their second consecutive NBA Finals because their big players were more skilled and more talented than the Nuggets' big players were tough and physical.
Darn right I want to see the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the L.A. Lakers in the NBA Finals. And, yes, some of it has to do with the significant subplot of LeBron James vs. Kobe Bryant.
For a few reasons, that's the series I want. And I'm not going to feel guilty about it or apologize for it or pay any attention to the backlash. I know Orlando's Dwight Howard feels disrespected because everyone seems to be pulling for Cavs-Lakers and LeBron-Kobe, but he shouldn't take it personally.
ORLANDO -- Phil Jackson might not be around to see this through – how about Pat Riley for his replacement? – but it looks like the Lakers are well positioned to become the first team to successfully defend an NBA title since they made it three in a row earlier this decade.
ORLANDO – We all should have seen this one coming, especially after Stuff had a better warmup than 
It's hard to set Game 1 of the 
The 
The Larry O'Brien itself is plenty of motivation for the participants in the 2009 Finals. But there will also be a few individual goals driving those involved.
OK, so far as I can tell, no 
It took a day or so to get out of conference finals mode and get into NBA Finals mode. Time to start thinking Lakers-Magic.
There's a good chance that at some point during the NBA Finals -- or likely before they even start -- there will be talk of whether or not the Lakers are tough enough to win a championship.
Darn right I want to see the Cleveland Cavaliers vs. the L.A. Lakers in the NBA Finals. And, yes, some of it has to do with the significant subplot of 
