In a way, the 2009 NBA Finals were a disappointment for Los Angeles Lakers fans.
After the team was embarrassed the year before in the championship series by the Boston Celtics, it wanted nothing more than a rematch in 2009.
But after Kevin Garnett suffered a season-ending knee injury at midseason, the Celtics bowed out in the second round of the playoffs.
It left LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers as the obvious favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. However, they fell in the East finals in six games.
Instead of facing their arch-rivals or James in the finals, the Lakers played the Orlando Magic. The Magic were nothing to sneeze at. They won 59 games in the regular season and featured the NBA’s highest defensive rating.
They also boasted Dwight Howard, the Defensive Player of the Year, who was a force defensively, on the boards and at the rim. Around him, Orlando had a strong army of potent 3-point shooters.
But Kobe Bryant didn’t seem to care who the Lakers were facing. He just wanted his fourth ring and his first without Shaquille O’Neal.
In Game 1 of the finals, he made sure the series would be played on his terms. Whatever he wanted to do, he did. The Magic’s normally airtight defense couldn’t stop or even slow him.
Bryant finished with 40 points, eight assists, eight rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots as the Lakers won easily, 100-75.
Once the game was over, there was an air of inevitability around the series. Everyone sensed the Lakers were going to win it all, and it was just a question of how long it would take.
As it turned out, it took five games.
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