By Shawn Drotar, Executive Editor, 5WGaming.com

This is it - the NBA Finals! After 82 games, an exciting slate of playoff games and all the pomp and circumstance, it's time to play the games that will determine this year's champion.

The Los Angeles Lakers' appearance in the Finals is no surprise; they were the West's best all year, and despite a second-round challenge from the Houston Rockets and a brief scare in the conference finals by the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers look strong and ready to compete for what they take as a birthright - a championship.

Standing in their way are the Orlando Magic; not exactly an upstart, but a team whose best years were still assumed to lie ahead of them. But after toppling the defending champion Boston Celtics and shocking the NBA world by knocking out league MVP LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Magic are playing with house money; few expect them to win, so they can play each game as if they have nothing to lose.

Expect an exciting and unpredictable series between the two clubs - and a deserving NBA champion at the end.

LOS ANGELES LAKERS (No. 1 seed in the West. 65-17 regular season record, defeated Utah 4-1 in the first round, defeated Houston 4-3 in the second, defeated Denver 4-2 in the conference finals):

STARTERS: PG Derek Fisher, SG Kobe Bryant, SF Lamar Odom, PF Pau Gasol, C Andrew Bynum.

NOTABLE BENCH PERFORMERS: SF Trevor Ariza, SF Luke Walton, SG Shannon Brown.

STRENGTHS: Clearly, Kobe Bryant is the obvious key to the Lakers. He's their on-court leader, their best scorer, best passer, best defender - best everything. Pau Gasol has become a near-perfect foil to Bryant since being obtained in a highway-robbery trade from then-Memphis and former-Laker general manager Jerry West. An outstanding big man, Gasol hits the boards hard and is capable of scoring in bunches.

Against Denver, Bryant became more of a distributor, which gave Gasol wide-open shooting opportunities that he rarely missed. Lamar Odom's versatility as a passer and shooter allows coach Phil Jackson to mix and match his player rotations to fit any situation. Odom dominated near the end of the Denver series, turning a 2-2 series tie into a 4-2 romp by the end. If Odom's playing at his best, the Lakers are nearly unstoppable.

WEAKNESSES: The Lakers are prone to bouts of overconfidence, often relying on Bryant to shoulder too much of the offensive load and caring too little about physical defense. This hampered them early in the Denver series, until they started to take the Nuggets' physicality more seriously. Orlando Dwight Howard's sculpted physique will provide an even greater challenge. Besides Gasol, no one on the Lakers rebounds particularly well, and that includes massive center Andrew Bynum, whose effort is always in question. Of particular concern are the Lakers' point guards. Derek Fisher is 34 but plays even older, and Jordan Farmar would be just another journeyman if he wore any color other than Lakers yellow. While the two were able to reasonably contain Denver's spot-up shooter Chauncey Billups, the Rockets' less-heralded penetrator Aaron Brooks almost knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs in the second round. The Magic's point guards slash more than they spot up and shoot, which could pose a real problem for Los Angeles.

HOW THE LAKERS CAN WIN: The X-factor for the Lakers isn't Kobe Bryant or Pau Gasol; they're both terrifically consistent players who can be accounted for, if not exactly stopped; their performance is a given. Rather, the difference-maker for the Lakers is Lamar Odom, who can look like an All-Star one game and then disappear the next. When Odom played poorly, the Lakers were in real danger of being bounced from the playoffs by the Nuggets. In the last two games of the conference finals, Odom played like a man possessed and the series was essentially over.

ORLANDO MAGIC (No. 3 seed in the East. 59-23 regular season record, defeated Philadelphia 4-2 in the first round, defeated Boston 4-3 in the second, defeated Cleveland 4-2 in the conference finals):

STARTERS: PG Rafer Alston, SG Courtney Lee, SF Hedo Turkoglu, PF Rashard Lewis, C Dwight Howard.

NOTABLE BENCH PERFORMERS: PG Jameer Nelson, C Marcin Gortat, SF Mickael Pietrus, PG Anthony Johnson.

STRENGTHS: Howard is the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year and one of the best all-around players in the league. He's a very effective scorer close-in, a demoralizing shot-blocker and an athletic rebounder. Lewis and Turkoglu are tall and precise long-distance shooters who are both adept at finding ways to get open for a three-point shot. Altston has played very well since starting point guard Jameer Nelson went down with a shoulder injury. Nelson is expected to play in this series, but isn't expected to be particularly effective - and even if he is, he will play very limited minutes. Rookie Lee can be effective enough to score and play solid defense and Gortat and Pietrus are rough-and-tumble defenders. The Magic have a well-assembled roster, with role-players at the ready for most any situation, something they used to their advantage while beating Boston and Cleveland.

WEAKNESSES: Playmaking. The Magic rely on finding open shooters, but when a shot isn't there, the Magic don't have a single player capable of creating a scoring play by himself. Howard can get things done with his strength and athleticism, but his offensive game is unrefined. While point guard Jameer Nelson is expected to play in the series - rushing back after shoulder surgery - he won't be the All-Star caliber player he looked like earlier in the season. It'll be up to mercurial Rafer Alston to make the smart plays with consistency and avoid costly turnovers.

HOW THE MAGIC CAN WIN: Dwight Howard needs the ball as much as possible. Howard can draw fouls on forwards Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, who will certainly have to help Andrew Bynum on the double-team; the Lakers' inconsistent young center can't handle Howard by himself. Lewis or Turkoglu will both need to shoot well and draw Gasol and Odom out of the paint; floor spacing will be absolutely critical for Rafer Alston's passing - and for Orlando's success. Both Turkoglu and Lewis need to fight harder for rebounds and share the ball better; they can't play your-turn/my-turn basketball at the three-point line or the Lakers will sniff it out and shut it down. Mickael Pietrus is a tough, gritty defender, and he'll need every ounce of his ability to try and slow down Kobe Bryant without putting him on the free-throw line too often. Although Pietrus isn't the starting shooting guard (rookie Courtney Lee is), expect Pietrus' minutes to pile up if the Magic hope to take the series.

OUTLOOK: If the Lakers can slow down the Magic's penetrate-and-kick offense, then this series will be over in a hurry. Orlando's success lies in its ability to get forwards and spot-up shooters Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis open jumpers. Neither player has a particularly good inside game and neither of them rebounds consistently. If they're forced to do either, they'll be playing directly into the Lakers' hands, where forwards Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom play vastly better offense and defense in the paint.

The return of Magic point guard Jameer Nelson will help, but he'll be very limited and isn't expected to make much of a difference.

Orlando's Dwight Howard is the best center in the league, but the Lakers' Kobe Bryant's the best shooting guard in the league, and their production - while different in category - should probably be about the same. Both will dominate in this series.

The tactical edge goes to L.A.; not only because of coach Phil Jackson's championship pedigree, but because any team - like Orlando - that relies so heavily on outside shooting is extremely vulnerable to the occasional off-night.

As such, this series rests primarily on point-guard play, which isn't the strength of either team. That makes this NBA Finals a fascinating matchup. The crystal ball says the Lakers take the series in six, but a Lakers sweep or even an Orlando upset wouldn't be a total shock.

It's a great way to end a season - anything can happen. Enjoy!