2009 NBA Finals

2009 NBA Finals

The 2009 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association’s championship series for the 2008–09 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers, and the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic. The Lakers defeated the Magic, four games to one, to win the franchise’s 15th NBA championship.

About 2009 NBA Finals in brief

Summary 2009 NBA FinalsThe 2009 NBA Finals was the National Basketball Association’s championship series for the 2008–09 season. The best-of-seven playoff was contested between the Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers, and the Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic. The Lakers defeated the Magic, four games to one, to win the franchise’s 15th NBA championship. The 63rd edition of the championship series was played between June 4 and June 14 and was broadcast on U.S. television on ABC. This series was nicknamed the \”Disney Series\” for its connections to The Walt Disney Company. The two team captains were teammates and starters on the United States men’s national team the previous summer, winning a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Each player defeated another fellow Olympic starter in his respective conference final series: Bryant defeated Carmelo Anthony’s Denver Nuggets and Howard advanced past LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers. It marked a record-extending sixth Finals appearance of the decade and a record extending 30th Finals appearance overall, the most for any NBA team. The Lakers won Game 2 on June 2, 101–96 in overtime. Then they won Game 4 in overtime on June 11, 101-96 on June 13, and Game 5 on June 14, 100-99 on June 15, to secure the series. The Magic won Game 7 in Boston on June 16, winning their first Finals victory in franchise history. In Game 14, Dwight Howard’s stellar performance with 40 points and 14 rebounds helped the Magic earn its second Finals appearance and win both games.

Although the Magic faced a backup point guard with Orlando, Tyronn Lue appeared with the Lakers during their initial championship run in the 2000s. Both regular-season games and three of the NBA Finals were decided by six points or fewer or overtime. The series was won by the Lakers in four games, with Kobe Bryant scoring 40 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists in Game 1 and Derek Fisher scoring 16 points in Game 2. The game was the first time in the Finals that the Magic had won a game in the second half of a game since Game 1 of the 2007-08 NBA season. It was also the first Finals win for the Magic in a series that began with a Game 3 overtime victory in Game 3 of the 2006-07 NBA season, and the first ever in a Finals game in which they had won at least one game in three games in a single Finals game. The final game of the series was a Game 4 overtime victory for the Lakers, and they won the series 4-1 in the fourth quarter. The Finals was played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, the home of the Los Angeles Clippers. The finals were the first NBA Finals game to be played in the city since the Lakers moved to Los Angeles in 1996. The NBA Finals are staged under a 2–3–2 rotation, with Los Angeles holding home-court advantage as they had a better regular season record than the Magic. Orlando assistant coach Patrick Ewing had publicly guaranteed that Orlando would win game 7.