NBA Finals: No Need for Nelson

As the Orlando Magic and LA Lakers suit up for game two of this seven-game series of the NBA finals, I hope Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy has learned his lesson from game one. Don’t play Jameer Nelson. Now, I know my esteemed colleague, Rob Costello, predicted Nelson would be the key to the Magic’s success in these finals, I just don’t see it. I know, Nelson is an All-Star point guard who was second in the NBA in 3-point shooting this season, but he just recovered from shoulder surgery. Correct me if I’m wrong, but you kind of need your shoulders at full strength in order to play professional basketball. And the finals should not be his rehab assignment! The surgery on his torn labrum was predicted to be season-ending. Why would the Magic rush him back and play him, when what they have now, with big men All-Stars Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard has been working throughout the playoffs. They also have 2008’s Most Improved Player in Forward Hedo Turkoglu, as well as former Streetballer Rafer Austin. So people thought Jameer Nelson would ruin Orlando’s hopes because they can’t shoot from beyond the arc without him? In the postseason, they’re shooting 36% from 3-point range, barely off from their 39% mark that they got with Nelson (and that’s against much weaker defenses than the 76ers, Celtics, and Cavaliers they’ve faced in the playoffs). In game one of the finals, Nelson shot zero 3-pointers in 23 minutes. If anything, Nelson brought the team down a notch. The Magic were thinking too much about his presence, and not playing the type of basketball that has got them through the playoffs. They only scored 75 points against the Lakers, who gave up 99 points per game in the regular season! (The Magic have averaged 97 points per game in these playoffs.) I can’t believe Van Gundy would make Nelson play so soon after surgery, with no game-type situations to play off of (no pun intended). Ideally Nelson would come off the bench, starting with just few minutes per game, and increasing the number every game. But the Magic don’t have that kind of time, and were forced to play Nelson for more than 20 minutes in game one the NBA finals. We’ll see what they do in game two tonight, which starts at 8:00 in LA, but if I were Stan Van Gundy, I’d rely on Dwight Howard to play great defense and, likely facing the double-team, draw in the Laker defense, and get the ball to his more-than-decent supporting cast.