Enough of those conspiracy theories. No Lebron vs Kobe dream match will happen in this season’s NBA Finals. It will be the Mickey Mouse series. It’s Disneyland vs Disney World! It’s named as such because the two Disney theme parks are prominent landmarks in both Los Angeles and Orlando.

From Wikipedia,

The Disneyland Resort is a recreational resort complex, that opened in 1955, in Anaheim, California. The resort is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks and Resorts division and is home to two theme parks, three hotels and a shopping, dining, and entertainment area.

Walt Disney World Resort is the most visited and largest recreational resort in the world, containing four theme parks; two water parks; twenty-three themed hotels; and numerous shopping, dining, entertainment and recreation venues. Owned and operated by the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts segment of The Walt Disney Company, it is located southwest of Orlando, Florida.

Simply put, Disney World is bigger and better but Disneyland is the original.

Ok, let’s now talk basketball.

Aside from Mickey Mouse, there is still one BIG common denominator between the two teams facing for the finals. And I mean BIG — It’s the BIG Aristotle… or the BIG cactus… or the BIG whatever… Shaquille O’Neal. You see, Shaq brought the Orlando Magic in the 1995 NBA Finals but was swept by the Hakeem Olajuwon-led Houston Rockets in 4 games. He then led the Los Angeles Lakers to a three-peat from 2000-2002 before losing to the Detroit Pistons in the 2004 NBA Finals.

Anyway, here’s the tale of the tape between the two teams facing in the 2009 NBA Finals.

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TEAM STATS
	LA Lakers	Orlando Magic
Playoffs PPG	102.90	98.50
Playoffs RPG	42.40	38.40
Playoffs APG	20.20	19.00
Playoffs BPG	6.60	4.50
Playoffs SPG	8.10	7.00
Playoffs FG%	0.47	0.47
Playoffs FT%	0.75	0.73
Playoffs 3P%	0.38	0.37
Regular Season Record	65-17 (.793)	59-23 (.720)
Playoffs Record	12-6 (.667)	12-7 (.631)
Previous NBA Finals Appearance	29	1
NBA Finals Record	14-15 (.482)	0-1 (.000)
Championships	14	0

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TEAM LEADERS IN EACH CATEGORY
	LA Lakers	Orlando Magic
Playoffs PPG	Kobe Bryant (29.6)	Dwight Howard (21.7)
Playoffs RPG	Pau Gasol (11.3)	Dwight Howard (15.4)
Playoffs APG	Kobe Bryant (4.9)	Hedo Torkuglo (5.1)
Playoffs BPG	Pau Gasol (2.0)	Dwight Howard (2.22)
Playoffs SPG	Kobe Bryant (1.72)	Rafer Alston (1.61)
Playoffs FG%	Pau Gasol (.57)	Dwight Howard (.62)
Playoffs FT%	Kobe Bryant (.90)	J.J. Redick (.92)
Playoffs 3P%	Lamar Odom (.52)	Mickael Pietrus (.39)

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The Magic has the advantage over the Lakers in their regular season face-off winning the two games they met; 106-103 on the first game and 109-103 on the second. But it’s the playoffs. We are talking of a totally different ballgame here.

Here’s the schedule of games here in the Philippines. You might need it.

Please read my related posts:

1. 2009 NBA Finals | The Black Mamba vs Superman This embarrassing welcome-to-the-NBA-I’m-the-black-mamba dunk did not happen. But this one’s not too shabby either. It happened during the 3rd quarter...
2. 2009 NBA Finals Lakers vs Magic Game 1 | Kobe Scores 40 in a 100-75 Rout Before the Mickey Mouse series has started, the prevailing question was — who can defend Superman Dwight Howard? After one...
3. 2009 NBA Finals Lakers vs Magic Game 3 | Orlando Shoots a Finals Record 63% In First Ever Win Now we have a series. At home and at a place where they feel comfortable, away from the limelight of...
4. 2009 NBA Finals Lakers vs Magic Game 2 | Courtney Lee Misses Alley-oop Shot It was an exciting Game 2 and close all throughout. With seconds remaining and the game tied at 88-all, Kobe...
5. 2009 NBA Finals | Kobe Bryant vs Dwight Howard Preview The date was November 12, 2006. It was Dwight Howard’s 6th game as a rookie and his team the Orlando...

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Tags: 2009 NBA finals, disney, la lakers, NBA, orlando magic, wikipedia