Discuss the Magic vs Lakers matchup

[bruceblitz]

Everyone knows the Odom's, Kobe's, Dwight's, Gasol's, Hedo's, Rashard's of the world will step up, but who will be your X-factor?

Candidates:

Bynum
Pietrus
Ariza
Alston
Gortat
Fisher
Shannon B
Jordan Farmar
Luke Walton
Courtney Lee
??????

[OneMoreSucka]

Odom.

[Kiddlovesnets]

Jameer Nelson

[AirJordan23]

Odom easily.

[bruceblitz]

Jameer Nelson

I want to wait to see if he actually plays and if he does it will be in such a limited role, I don't know if I could feel confident as an observer stating that opinion.

[sixerfan82]

Odom NEEDS to get 15ish a game for the Lakers to win. They can shut down 1-2 of Orlando's guys, but Odom needs to play big.

With 2 playmakers in Kobe and Lamar, Gasol doin his thing and Bynum working cleanup, it should be an easy 6 games for the Lakers.

[Allstar24]

The X-factor for the Lakers is Trevor Ariza. For Orlando...Rafer Alston. I think he'll have a monster series because a) he always plays extremely well against us b) Fisher will defend him

[D-Rose]

I think Pietris will be the unsung hero in this series and will give Kobe more trouble than most are realizing. Without a doubt Lee/Pietris will gaurd Kobe much better than Denver did. Pietris did a good job of wearing Down Lebron and making him work but Kobe is more perimiter oriented and Pietris size and athletisism will cause Kobe Problems even more than Lebron cause he can't use his own size and strength like Lebron did.

Kobe is a better player in the post than LeBron because of the triangle. Did you not watch the Denver series? Kobe posts up on smaller defender, help defender comes, Kobe finds an open Fish, Ariza, Gasol, etc. Kobe is a smarter player than LeBron as Wilbon said, he understands the game more.

Gasol will have trouble guarding Shard but Shard will also have trouble guarding Pau.

[catch24]

Hopefully Brown or Ariza

Odom needs to be a consistent 3rd "go-to-guy".

[KeylessEntry]

Peitrus and Lee for the Magic. If those guys defend Kobe well and keep hitting their shots its going to be a lonnggg series for the Lakers.

Odom for the Lakers. He is the guy with a best chance of shutting down either Turkoglu or Lewis, he is also going to have to get 8-10+ rpg if the Lakers want to win.

[D-Rose]

Odom & Ariza / Pietrus & Rafer

[quasimoto]

Definitely Odom.

[Knicks101]

Pietrus.

[RocketGreatness]

Lakers: Ariza, Fisher and Odom - I think Fisher might be the biggest, he's had big scoring games against the Magic this season. Ariza has been very consistent, I don't think you can still continue to call him an x-factor.

Magic: Pietrus, Alston or Lee - I think Alston might be the biggest. He was a huge x-factor against the Cavs in there wins. Pietrus as well, but I don't think he'll have a big series simply because the Lakers' guards are big enough to match Pietrus. The Cavs sent 6'3 guys on Pietrus.

[GiveItToBurrito]

Odom doesn't even need to be a scorer, just guard Rashard Lewis and Turkoglu. Of the people on the list, I think that Rafer is the most likely to have a better than usual series since, even though he's not that fast, he can still run circles around Fisher. Ariza could be a difference maker, too, since he seems like he can get up and down the court significantly faster than Turk.