Basketball fans, it’s now down to the Final Cuatro: the Magic will be facing the Cavaliers on May 20, while the Nuggets face off against the Lakers today, May 19. It’s been an incredible play off season so far, and these final competitors will surely give us some sweet memories to end out the 2008-09 NBA basketball season.
The Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers start things off with Game 1 on May 19, 2009, The action begins at 9 PM EST time. This will be the first time since 1985 that the Nuggets will face the Lakers in Conference final play, while the Lakers are regular contenteders in the finals almost yearly.
The first two games of the series will be in Los Angeles, putting the Nuggets on the road for the opening games. The Nuggets will be looking to Carmelo Anthony for leadership, while the Lakers will jump into high gear with Kobe Bryant and other top players charging forward. The Lakers have beaten the Nuggets 3 times this year and lost only once. Looking to the stats, the Lakers are averaging 100 points per game to the Nuggets’ 94. Clearly, the Nuggets will have to step up their game to remain competitive in this series.
Over in the East, LeBron James and the Cavaliers will be brawling with the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, May 20. The Magic faced formidable competition from the Boston Celtics, who were finally defeated in Game 7: all of this without team leader Kevin Garnett. Obviously, the Magic have been tested by the best of the East and are now ready to take to Cleveland.
The Magic have to be proud of Hedo Turkoglu and his heroics during the series with the Celtics. Turkoglu is a versatile player, who can weave around the defense for the high percentage shots, but isn’t afraid to go outside for the 3 pointers either. As for the Cavs, one can’t dismiss the fact that they lost 2 of 3 contests against the Magic in the regular season. Despite this stat, however, the post season play of the Cavaliers has been solid and the task of containing LeBron James alone will be paramount for the Magic.