Kobe and the Lakers seek to close out the Orlando Magic in Game 5. Will the Magic defend their home court and force a Game 6? Or will the Lakers celebrate on the Magic home floor?

Expect the Magic to come out fired up in Game 5. Their crowd will give them a boost and they will outhustle the Lakers. I’m sure as hell that Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu don’t want to see the Lakers celebrating on their home floor.

The Los Angeles Lakers were home cooked by the referees last game. The Magic were awarded 17 more free throws than them. The referees basically handed the game to the Magic, but obviously, the Magic did not take advantage. Crucial misses at the line by the usually clutch Turkoglu and ‘Superman’ cost Orlando the game.

The key to this series is the Lakers’ third offensive option and the Magic’s Lewis.

Either Odom, Ariza and Fisher can provide that much needed boost Kobe and Pau Gasol need. Odom finally looks like he is mentally focused on playing basketball. Aside from fulfilling his role as a third option on offense, he has done a good job on Lewis and Turkoglu. Ariza scored 16 points last game, fulfilling the offensive void Odom left last game. And of course Fisher hit those clutch shots, a role Kobe was supposed to fill. Either Ariza, Odom or Fisher need to have a good game for the Lakers to close out the series.

Phil Jackson knows that the key to the Magic’s success is Rashard Lewis’ ability to hit the three. In Game 4, every time Lewis received the ball he was immediately crowded with two defenders. The Lakers frustrated him into a horrible shooting night. He was not able to find any rhythm all game long. Unlike in the Magic-Cavaliers series, Lewis punished the Cavs for doubling Howard by hitting shots from outside. In Game 4, he scored only 6 points. Way to make adjustments Phil Jackson.

The Magic had some relative success guarding Kobe Bryant. Sure, he had some pretty big first quarters in the series but he runs out of gas in the fourth quarter. Hell, Mamba could not even save the Lakers last game. They had to turn to the 34 years young Derek Fisher. If not for the mental lapse on Jameer Nelson’s part, this series is tied.

The Magic’s strategy should be simple: let Kobe shoot himself out. He shot the ball 31 times last game and only made 11! Let Pietrus play him one on one, if Kobe makes a move to the rim send an extra defender. Kobe has not mastered the idea of playing team ball and he seems reluctant to trust his teammates. Tempt Kobe to try and beat the Magic by himself. I’m sure he’s up for the challenge. Notice the last 3 minutes of the fourth quarter and the first couple minutes of overtime; the play was Kobe with the ball near midcourt, isolated and it was either shoot a jumper or drive to the basket. The Lakers offense stalled every time he did this. Sure, he made his first two jumpers in overtime but after that he disappeared. Fatigue caught up to him. He is trying so hard to secure his first NBA Finals MVP. Kobe has not fully bought into the triangle offense, Jordan did and he didn’t have such a hard time scoring.

Yes, I know he can hurt you by himself evidenced by the 81 points he dropped on the Raptors three years ago. But the 2009 Kobe has lost some spring in his legs. Plus, he is coming off a grueling summer playing for Team USA. Even Kobe is human, 2009 Kobe can’t beat the Magic by himself.

That’s the only thing the Magic can do right now, let Kobe shoot himself out and make him believe he can score 81 points again. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom get their opportunities to score when Lakers guards penetrate the lane. Clog the lanes and force bad decisions. It’s not like the Lakers point guards are gifted passers like Kidd, Paul and Nash. Fisher can’t get into the lane because he has lost a couple of steps and Farmer would rather put up runners than make the right decision.

All the Lakers have to do is make sure Lewis and Turkoglu don’t run wild like they did against the Cavs. Dwight Howard will get his but he’s not gonna be able to do it by himself.

Van Gundy should really give majority of the point guard minutes to Rafer Alston. They made the Finals with him at the point, right? Nelson is an All-Star but he has not yet recovered to All-Star form. Alston can hit the three and can get into the lane. He also seems a half-a-step faster than Nelson. Van Gundy will make the right calls in crunch time. Don’t expect him to mess up again like he did in Game 4.

The burning question in Game 5 is not if the Magic will play inspired and spirited basketball because we know they will as shown by their effort in the Finals and throughout the playoffs but it is;

Do the Lakers finally have that killer instinct like all the great championship teams in the past?