Finals: Game 1 Highlights.

In case you missed it last night. Here's the highlights of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Check it out and watch the Lakers do some damage.

Magic pull "Disappearing Act"

The Orlando Magic showed up in Game 1 with a trick up their sleeve. They pulled a "Disappearing Act"(which I got from Sportscenter by the way) as the Lakers dominated and took the first game of the NBA Finals. Winning by 25 points made it the sixth largest margin of victory in Game 1 of the NBA Finals since the Bulls over Blazers by 33 points in 1992.

From the player introduction, you can tell each one of the Lakers starters were focused. The look of Kobe's eyes were imprinted on theirs. They were hungry, intense, and energetic on both ends of the floor. Aside from some sketchy play by the Lakers early in the 2nd quarter, everything else was seamless. Even Stan Van Gundy's brother, Jeff said that he couldn't point out any Laker who played poorly.

Kobe set a career Finals high of 40pts, 8rebs, and 8asts. In doing so he became the fourth player in NBA history to reach 40, 8, & 8, along with legends like M.J., Shaq, and Jerry West. Kobe was driven and on a mission. He got in the lane whenever he wanted, and made contested jump shot after contested jump shot. I could have swore he got fouled on every attempt. The man wanted that game and he took it. Plain and simple. "I just want it so bad, that's all," Bryant said. "I just want it really bad."

You can't credit the win completely on Kobe. Aside from everyone else doing their part on the offensive end, it was the Lakers superb defense that takes the cake. Bynum did awesome on Dwight, and when he got beat, he took the right fouls. Bynum along with Pau, held their position. And when Howard got by, one of the Laker helpers came to meet him at the rim. Howard was limited to only one basket the entire game. He picked up the rest of his points at the line. Orlando's big three(Dwight, Rashard, and Hedo) altogether had only 33pts on a combined 6 for 27 shooting. That's flat out horrible from your top contributors.

The Lakers stuck with the game plan. They helped on Howard when they needed to, but when Howard dished it back out, the Lakers did a great job on closing. And best of all, what I thought would be most important; the Lakers dominated in. They absolutely dominated the boards. Out rebounding Orlando 55-41. Even if the Magic do improve, if the Lakers can continue to play like this? This series is over in 4 games.

Lil' Wayne "Kobe Bryant"

Like I said before, not a big fan of him but Weezy's new song is named after our very own Kobe Bryant. A few months ago Lil' Wayne said Lakers would take it this year, even over his good friend LeBron's team. Good lookin' Weezy.

Click here to listen to Lil' Wayne's "Kobe Bryant"

Source: Nelson to be active for Magic

Looks like Jameer"kat" will play after all. A little desperate are we Magic? He can play the whole game for all I care. LETS GO!

ESPN: LOS ANGELES -- Orlando Magic point guard Jameer Nelson will be activated Thursday for Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers, but no decision has been made yet on playing time, an NBA source told ESPN's Rachel Nichols.

During the past few days, Magic general manager Otis Smith has told Nichols that the Magic have never been considering whether Nelson would be in the starting lineup. The question is how many minutes Nelson would get coming off the bench.

The All-Star point guard participated in a full team practice Tuesday for the first time since tearing the labrum in his right shoulder Feb. 2. Players said Nelson looked "terrific" during the practice.

"I expect to see him out there at some point in the series," backup point guard Anthony Johnson said earlier this week.

Nelson had what was then called season-ending surgery Feb. 19. His rehabilitation was supposed to take at least another two months.

"I'm not saying I'm any tougher or stronger than anybody, but I've been known to do some amazing things sometimes," Nelson said Tuesday, as he again lobbied for playing time.

Video: LD2K's "The Kobe MVP Series" [Jams]

The last of LD2K's MVP Series videos. A collection of Kobe's nasty dunks of last season. This one is worth watching all the way through. And the dunk I was waiting to see came as the last one. Check it out!

Finals: Match-Ups.

Biggest match-up is the obvious one. One that centers on, well.. the Centers. Bynum since coming back from injury has been a bit irrelevant in the Playoffs. After a small tease in his comeback game against the Denver Nuggets in the last games of the regular season, he's almost not there mentally, and pretty much physically. I'm not sure if the new knee brace he's been using has really limiting his movement, or if he's just flat out scared of re-injuring it.

Whatever the reason is, he better man up.. literally. Bynum now has to face one of(if not) the premiere Center(s) in the NBA. In this series or any of the previous ones, we're not looking to have Bynum there as an offensive presence, but more of a defensive one. Bynum has to body Dwight up. Beat him to the spot and not let Howard get in good position to score. And if he is in a position to score, make it tough for him. Foul him if you have to, make him earn his points. It's never good for Big Drew to be in foul trouble, but knowing when to make the correct one is important. But if all we needed Drew for is fouls, we might as well put Mbenga in. IQ is the difference. Sorry D.J.

Next one to worry about is Rashard Lewis. The Power Forward who isn't one. He's a 6'10 Forward who's able to shoot the three, drive it in, and post. A task for starting Center/Forward Pau Gasol. Pau is fast and agile, and has shown he can close on a three shooter. But what is he going to do when that three shooter has the ability to drive? I think he'll do OK. Anyway the task also falls on Odom when he comes in for Bynum. I think he has a better chance at guarding him and can also switch off with Ariza to guard Hedo, when needed. Only question is, "how long do we let Bynum or Pau guard Dwight and Lewis before they sub?"

Hedo to me won't cause to much ruckus for the Lakers. I think after guarding a rough Melo, Ariza and Kobe won't have to much trouble with him. Though the Lakers might put to much emphasis on Lewis and Dwight, and may forget about Hedo. Lee and Pietrus on the other hand may be trouble. But not offensively. These two, especially Pietrus, look to stop, or at least slow down the Mamba a bit. They say these guys held LeBron down, but that man averaged +30, 8, and 8 in the series. And you call that slowing him down? I can't imagine what Kobe can do to these guys.

I don't see any other match-up problems for us so I won't bother for the rest. Game plan is for Bynum to hold down the paint. Or whoever else is down there, needs to guard it. Stay home on shooters, cause we all know the Magic can shoot the lights out. Try and keep our bigs out of foul trouble. But the biggest thing to is to control the boards. If we can manage to do half of that, we should do fine.

GAMEDAY.

Rewind back to October of 2008. Lakers were the heavy favorites to take the trophy this year. And was 7-0 to start the season. A couple of months later, they were criticized as not having that same spark. They then proved to everyone that they still got it, with a impressive win against Boston on Christmas day. They were again tested in a six-game road trip in February, ending with the East's top two seed in Boston, then Cleveland. They swept that trip. They rose to every big challenge the regular season brought to them. And then the made the Playoffs.

As the No. 1 seed in the West, you would think they would have the easier road. Instead they were tested in every series. First, facing a young, quick, and athletic Utah team that can really put up numbers. In which they finished in 5. Then, an "in your face" tough defensive minded Houston team. They struggled but got through it in 7. And finally met, which seemed to be a mixture of Utah and Houston. Denver played a physically defensive game while scoring on you at every angle. But their lack of experience proved detriment, causing them to fold under the pressure late in games. And eventually the Lakers took it in 6 games to advance to the NBA Finals.

Today, a few hours from now is Game 1 of the Finals against the Orlando Magic. The only team the Lakers failed to overcome. But since they last played, changes have been made on both teams. Bynum is back after missing half the season due to injury. Ariza is starting and newly acquired Brown has made Phil's rotation. Jameer who torched us in both games this year has been out for half the season. Former Rocket Rafer Alston replaced Nelson in a trade for former Laker Brian Cook, and helped Magic continue to be contenders.

Every step of the way in the road to the Finals, the Lakers have been tested. And to me, seemed like they had the hardest road to get there than any other team. In the regular season, as well as the Playoffs. Out hustled by the Jazz, out muscled by the Rockets, and out played by the Nuggets. If they were looked at as soft before the Playoffs began. They weren't anymore after playing those three teams. I'm glad they were put through hell. All that was just practice. Practice till the Finals where the Magic look to test them one more time.