Lakers Vs Orlando this season, Orlando was 2-0

paco · 05-30-09, 09:33 PM

Playoffs are a whole different beast! Ur a pro brock, u know that

Brock Landers · 05-30-09, 09:35 PM

Paco, these games matter, especially since the only played twice.

Appears it will be high scoring

paco · 05-30-09, 09:41 PM

Originally posted by Brock Landers

Paco, these games matter, especially since the only played twice.

Appears it will be high scoring

High scoring i agree, i still believe if the line is more than -8 lakers that magic will cover

EaglesPhan36 · 05-30-09, 09:46 PM

I hope people realize Orlando winning makes the Finals much more entertaining. The match-ups will be much more fun to watch, Cleveland-LA would have just been Lebron vs. Kobe shoved down our throats. I think Orlando has an excellent shot to win it all.

paco · 05-30-09, 09:49 PM

Eagleaphan good call on the wings undr! Fuk me!

brock · 05-30-09, 10:26 PM

I think Orlando's regular season record vrs Cleveland was a
determining factor in the playoffs.

fearless · 05-30-09, 11:13 PM

Every team that swept a regular-season series has won the playoff series-for 10 years

As I'm sure you all know, the Magic swept the Lakers 2-0 in the regular season...

Generally, the playoffs tend to follow the trends established during a pair of teams' regular-season battles. Consider what Insider discovered in combing through first-round results from the last 10 seasons:
Every favorite (No. 1 through No. 4 seeds) won its first series if it also won the regular-season matchup against its opponent.
Underdogs have pulled off 15 upsets during that time span. Of the 19 underdogs who won the regular-season matchup, eight pulled off the playoff upset. Of the 25 lower-seeded teams to split the regular-season series, seven beat the higher seed in the playoffs.
Every team that swept a regular-season series went on to win the playoffs series.
Only one underdog (No. 5 through No. 8 seeds) swept a higher-seeded opponent in the regular season. That was the 2006-07 Golden State Warriors, an 8-seed, who went on to beat the Mavericks in the first round, as well.

This is from ESPN insider so I'm copying the whole article below:

Insider: LeBron on the Playoffs

Chris Broussard talks to LeBron James about the upcoming playoffs. (4/09)Tags: Cleveland Cavaliers, Lebron James

Insider: LeBron on the Playoffs

How much does the NBA's regular season matter come playoff time? More than you ever might have imagined. It turns out that by studying head-to-head results for postseason matchups, we end up with a strong clue as to how a series will turn out.
Generally, the playoffs tend to follow the trends established during a pair of teams' regular-season battles. Consider what Insider discovered in combing through first-round results from the last 10 seasons:
Every favorite (No. 1 through No. 4 seeds) won its first series if it also won the regular-season matchup against its opponent.
Underdogs have pulled off 15 upsets during that time span. Of the 19 underdogs who won the regular-season matchup, eight pulled off the playoff upset. Of the 25 lower-seeded teams to split the regular-season series, seven beat the higher seed in the playoffs.
Every team that swept a regular-season series went on to win the playoffs series.
Only one underdog (No. 5 through No. 8 seeds) swept a higher-seeded opponent in the regular season. That was the 2006-07 Golden State Warriors, an 8-seed, who went on to beat the Mavericks in the first round, as well. FAVORED STATUS

Over the past 10 seasons, higher seeds performed significantly better in first-round playoff matchups when they held an edge in the regular-season head-to-head series.
Favorite's Win % (Reg. Season) Teams Upsets Upset % Sweeps Sweep % 1.000 9 0 0.0 5 55.6 .750 18 0 0.0 2 11.1 .667 9 0 0.0 1 11.1 .500 25 7 28.0 6 24.0 .333 6 3 50.0 0 0.0 .250 12 4 33.3 3 25.0 .000 1 1 100 0 0.0 Total 80 15 18.8 17 21.3

With that information in mind, let's take a look at the first-round matchups, now that they're finally set after a wild Wednesday night. Also, it's worth remembering a couple of other nuggets from the last 10 seasons. Upsets were far more common in the Eastern Conference (11) than the West. And not a single No. 2 seed lost a first-round series, which isn't that surprising, given that none of them lost a regular season head-to-head series, either.

pavyracer · 05-30-09, 11:33 PM

This is a trap. The books are favoring Lakers in the series where clearly the better team is the Magic.