NBA Finals Game Four Preview

Much was made of the Magic shooting a NBA Finals record 62% from the floor in game three. They shot that well and it was still a close game.

But the key to their win over the Lakers Tuesday night was the way they continued to shoot well down the stretch in the fourth quarter. Kobe tried to answer each shot by himself, and just could not do it.

The defense of the Magic's Turkoglu and Pietrus on Kobe late in the game was stellar, and to make matters worse for Kobe, he was only 5 of 10 from the free-throw line.

I expect the Magic to ride their home crowd to victory again tonight in game four. Look for Kobe to try and involve his teammates more in the second half tonight. I'm sure that when Kobe saw the game film he realized he tried to do way too much by himself.

Like I had been saying earlier on First and Short, Dwight Howard could dominate the post. He did that in game three and the Magic won. Lamar Odum and Andrew Bynum were pretty much invisible in game three.

Maybe it was the strong 27 minutes that J.J. Redick played that boosted the Magic. Unlikely, but there is always someone who steps up in the finals. Last game it was Raefer Alston, look for rookie guard Courtney Lee to step up and make timely shots tonight.