FanHouse NbaFinals

Bloggers knee-jerking on the phone + roundtable style = RoundCast.

The Los Angeles Lakers are the World Champions, finishing off the Orlando Magic in five games on Sunday night to put a glorious end to the 2008-09 season.

FanHouse's Matt Moore and old friend Craig Kwasniewski joined me to break down Game 5, as well as look back at how the NBA Finals unfolded. Will Stan Van Gundy ultimately be held responsible, or were the Lakers simply the more talented team this time around?

We also look ahead to next season, as both of these teams face questions about whether some of their key players will return after hitting the free agent market. The season is over but the celebration continues, after the jump.

ORLANDO -- That lucky Phil Jackson did it again. He just sat there on his makeshift throne, smirked and watched his superior players beat up on another sorry team and gift-wrap him another title.

That's what a lot of Boston fans are saying today. For all we know, that's what Red Auerbach is saying.

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They have to win four.

I mean, we all know they will. You could point to several moments when this NBA season ended, but Derek Fisher draining a pull-up-jumper-in-transition three was pretty much the final nail in the coffin. You can't blow leads like the Magic did. But they did. But if the Lakers and Kobe Bryant want to cement themselves as everything we've already anointed them as, they have to win four games.

So here we are, and tonight will either be a mercy-killing as the Lakers end it and begin celebrating yet another in a long line of championships, or Orlando will kickstart the ticker and pray for a miracle. Join us for the celebration/funeral, at 8PM EST.

That's Mickael Pietrus, going with two hands in the back to Pau Gasol as he throws down a dunk near the end of the Lakers' overtime victory in Game 4. The game had already been decided by then, so there was really no reason other than frustration for the hard foul.

The play was ruled a flagrant at the time, and after review, the league has determined that no further action will be taken against Pietrus. And really, that's the correct decision.

As careful Finals viewers know, it's not all lollipops and unicorns at the NBA's pinnacle. For every Derek Fisher there's a Rashard Lewis. For every Dwight Howard, an Andrew Bynum.

Momentum is a cruel mistress, and boy does she get around. She's in your room sipping Moet one minute, knocking on Trevor Ariza's door the next. Hard to predict, harder to capture for more than a fleeting moment. But with a break between games, we can take a quick snapshot of where Momentum is at right now. The results can be found after the jump.

Former Celtic Larry Bird always used to say that Game 4 is the most important game in a seven-game series. And that would certainly be the case Thursday night in Orlando.

Either the Lakers take control of this series or we've got a whole new ballgame.

Here are five questions heading in to Thursday's game in Orlando:

1. Is there anything to this Kobe Bryant wearing down thing?
Kobe Bryant has been logging a lot of minutes in the postseason and there were definite signs of fatigue at the end of Game 3. Predictably, Bryant downplayed any tiredness themes, which you would figure.

LOS ANGELES -- It's an overstatement to suggest that the Orlando Magic blew Game 2 to the L.A. Lakers on Sunday night at Staples.

That wouldn't be a fair way to describe their 101-96 overtime loss.

Then again, it is accurate to say they had opportunities to win it. And there was no better opportunity to get the win than the layup Courtney Lee missed at the end of regulation off of a beautifully executed inbounds play.

LOS ANGELES -- In the wake of their 100-75 loss to the Lakers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Orlando Magic players, coaches and members of their front office have been talking about their team's resiliency.

The media has been reminded several times that the Magic came back after Glen Davis hit a buzzer-beater in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semis and after LeBron James hit a buzzer-beater in Game 2 of the conference finals.

But how will they handle the bus controversy?

LOS ANGELES -- Dave Twardzik and Kobe Bryant will be forever linked.

What? You didn't know they were linked at all? Well, they are and they always will be in the Bay Area.

Back in June 1996, the Golden State Warriors had the No. 11 pick in the NBA draft, and there was Bryant, who had just completed his senior year at Lower Merion High School, still on the board.

But with the 11th pick, the Golden State Warriors selected Todd Fuller, a 6-foot-11 center out of North Carolina State.

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While in LA covering this year's NBA Finals, FanHouse's Jay Mariotti and Kevin Blackistone stopped by the AOL studios and dropped a little knowledge on this year's quest for the Larry O'Brien trophy. Is Kobe's focus sharper than it's ever been? Is Orlando just happy to have topped LeBron? And what about some series predictions? The "Around the Horn" veterans dish on these topics and more.

Check out the video after the jump.