This is the close out game for the LA Lakers and a must win game for the Orlando Magic. We predicted here at GamersGame that the Lakers will win in Five games, at 3-1 Laker lead our prediction will be true.
Series at a Glance Orlando vs. LA Lakers Lakers lead series 3-1
1. Game 1: at LAL ORL 75, LAL 100 - Final
2. Game 2: at LAL ORL 96, LAL 101 - Final OT
3. Game 3: at ORL LAL 104, ORL 108 - Final
4. Game 4: at ORL LAL 99, ORL 91 - Final OT
After a day following L.A.’s 99-91 overtime win in Game 4, both teams practiced on Saturday at Amway Arena, which because of the 2-3-2 format, will be hosting its final game of the season. The Magichave faith that they can become the first team in finals history to overcome a 3-1 deficit where the first 29 other teams failed.
“We know what’s ahead of us,” said Orlando center Dwight Howard. “We know what’s been said and the situation that we’re in. We won’t stop believing.”
The Lakers understand what’s at hand and don’t want to give life to an Orlando team that has come back before. One year after losing in the finals to the Celtics, Kobe Bryant and his teammates want to finish the job.
But it’s been a long time since the last one. Bryant knows that championships are what divide the very goods from the greats.
When asked if Jordan’s mark was a number he would like to chase? “I’m trying to get this damn fourth one,” Bryant said, laughing.
A rare smile. Throughout much of the series, he has worn a scowl. His kids nicknamed him Grumpy after one of the Seven Dwarfs. He’s turning into Happy. On the brink of returning to the top, Bryant seems more at ease, confident.
He has an appreciation for the journey to each of his three titles. Bryant knows the road well, and he can finally see its end.
EA Sports the makers of NBA Live 08 did not release a 2009 PC version of the game for several reasons so lets compare the current version to the new NBA 2K9 from 2K Games.
Graphics Nba Live 08 have atrocious graphics, extremely jaggy lines everywhere, horrible player models, and the crowd and coaches looked so bad. The crowd seems like robots, they are blocky people who chant the exact same lines like "DEFENSE", on all teams. While its counterpart, NBA 2k9 has an excellent graphics and animations, which is full of character, varied, and fluid even during actions as straightforward as dribbling the ball. NBA 2k9 1-0.
Sound Steve Kerr and Marv Albert provide the banter they've given to NBA Live 08 for the last few years. They'll give a play-by-play call, and occasional break into talk about various players and what they're good at. While, Nba 2k9 analyst Clark Kellogg and sideline reporter Cheryl Miller join color commentator Kevin Harlan to create one of the most knowledgeable broadcast teams in the game. This area has no actual advantage.
Gameplay
The gameplay of NBA live 08 is a touch better, Minus several things have gotten worse. You can't drive to the rim each time and expect to score, as you'll find a lot more collisions, and a lot more charges and no-fouls called. The shooting mechanism is more reliable, unlike last time around where you were left scratching your head as Ray Allen missed a open three on a release he'd used the last time he hit one. This further encourages the concept to sometimes avoid the drive and instead kick out for a shot. The shooting sliders need big pushing upwards on higher difficulties as releases get nasty.
A few of the signature shots and go-to moves are in the current-gen game and most of them look cool, but there are several that don't feel realistic. For example, Kobe Bryant's fadeaway doesn't fade like it's supposed to, resulting in it being constantly blocked. Same case with other superstar players. There are similarly new animations, some of which are very nice but you won't notice them too much.
There's still a lot of problems. Even though Freestyle Superstars is technically gone, you can still pull off the moves, usually randomly determined when you do things such as dunk or a leaner shot, and scorer moves are still unstoppable. Inside Scorer moves still drop under a heap of pressure. Outside Scorer lay-up moves are very hard to block, even if the user is Jason Kidd and you're controlling Yao Ming. Actually, most lay-ups and Highflyer dunks are nearly impossible to block unless the sliders are turned way up, and adjusted shots still drop too easily as well.
Superstar Domination is a big problem. Whereas last year, PG Domination came as a result of an attempt to get the point guard to be a "floor leader", it's been switched onto the best players on the team, who end up pulling a move or two and shooting whenever they get the ball. Sometimes, it's so predictable that you can pull three guys off players to swarm the star player, and they still pass the ball to him, resulting in a steal.
Fast-breaks occur way too much.
While NBA 2k9 features a nefarious AI that knows how to hold up play if the shot-clock is on their side at the end of a quarter, and even intentionally foul if they’re scrambling for points as the seconds run out. Awareness of the greater flow of a match is something that’s rarely seen in sports game AI, and it makes a noticeable difference. Nba 2K9 is a great game in his own right, give it a few years and 2K Sports will finally create a balanced game. This time it’s basically swift basketball packed into a plethora of in-game advertisements. Others NBA Live 08 new FIBA World Championship isn't much more than adding a few more teams to most likely market it more overseas.
The biggest issue with Dynasty Mode is the simulation engine, which is whack. Players can average up to a scary 40 points a game through a season, and pull in 15 rebounds a game. Thankfully, these only apply to the scoring machines like Kobe and rebounding beasts such as Dwight Howard.
The one last problem are the ratings (rookie rating of 80 to 90+), and the fact that several rookies are missing but EA didnt release a patch and a roster update.
While there are a few problems with NBA 2k9 like, the game is almost impossible to play without a gamepad, and even then, button prompts are numbered, making it a struggle to get to grips with more advanced moves. The interface is also utterly befuddling, and very nearly hobbles the impressively extensive management back end of the career mode.
Final Verdict Each game is good in his own right, I personally prefer NBA Live 05. Depends in the gamer.
2-0. Lakers win in overtime, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points and 8 assist. LA take advantage late in the game and overtime by making clutch free throws, 15 in a row, good defense. As expected the Magic got a good game from there big three of Dwight Howard, 17 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assist. Hedo Turkuglo 22-6-4, and Rashard Lewis 34-11-7. Kobe got some help from fellow allstar Pau Gasol with 24 points 10 rebounds and another grueling night guarding Dwight Howard because Laker center Andrew Bynum mostly on the bench with foul trouble and played only 17 minutes. Veterans Lamar Odom and Derrick Fisher gave Lakers another good night with 19 points and 12 points respectively. Game 3 will be played in Amway Arena homecourt of the Orlando Magic.
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