Well, I missed both of them in the previous round.

The unstoppable Cleveland juggernaut was stopped.

The surging Denver Nuggets likewise.

Poor free throw shooting has not yet been the Achilles Heel that it always has been in the past. I’ve got to think that Don Nelson could have coached a team to a victory over the Magic, if he had had the opportunity. I don’t know that the coaches opposing Orlando were savvy enough to take advantage of Orlando’s weaknesses.

The Lakers, on the other hand, have faced very good and experienced coaches and have struggled somewhat, but have still come out on top. Sloan, Adelman, and Karl have all been there before and know how to run a team, and the Lakers still managed to come out on top.

Orlando defeated one of the top players in the world in LeBron James, but they are about to face one of the other ones – Kobe Bryant. In my book, they are probably equally capable of putting the team on their shoulders and winning, so I don’t think it’ll be any easier for the Magic in this series than it was in the last one.

So here we come to the prediction…

Orlando Magic at Los Angeles Lakers – The Lakers have the home-court advantage. The Lakers have a very experienced coach in Phil Jackson who might be able to mix and match lineups and mismatches better than the coaches of other Magic opponents have thus far been able to do. That being said, though, I don’t think Orlando will be easy to beat. None of their weaknesses have really come out yet, even against quality opponents like Boston and Cleveland. Who is to say that Los Angeles can really find the chinks. As a fan, I really hope Dwight Howard and his clan will figure out a way of pulling it off — after all, they have been underestimated by just about everyone from the get go. Unfortunately for Laker haters (myself included), I think Phil and Kobe will figure out a way of bringing another championship back to Los Angeles. Prediction: Lakers in 7