I'm looking forward to this too.  I am really interested in how the 'soft' Laker big men deal with Howard.  Also good point about how underrated their defense is.  Magic beat the Lakers twice already this year correct?  With the way they have been playing and don't see(maybe I just hope it won't) how that will change.

As offensive threats, LeBron James is a sledgehammer, where Kobe Bryant's a knife. LeBron's game is to slam into the paint, knock people out of the way, and to get to the foul line off of blocking calls. Alternatively, Bryant is about slicing through the paint, mixed in with mid-range jumpers, and to get to the foul line from people who hack him because they can't stay in front of him.

Against the Magic, LeBron's approach couldn't work at its best. Dwight Howard and Marcin Gortat are big and strong enough not to be so easily knocked out of the way. Because they could stand their ground and go straight up, he was too often forced into less accurate hook shots, or to make pass offs to undependable teammates on the perimeter. Against a setup defense, LeBron's game was increasingly neutralized by the Magic.

In the coming series, it should be a different story with Kobe and the Lakers. Kobe won't try to batter the Magic defense the way LeBron attempted to.  Instead of slamming off the chest of Howard, Kobe will be making that one more move to get to the side of him.  That means Howard may pick up more blocking fouls. Not from falling backing aways (as against LeBron) but from being caught sliding sideways. More importantly, when Kobe gets in that close, he'll be making better passes than LeBron was capable of, and to taller and more capable finishers (Odam and Gasol) than LeBron could dish to.

I'm expecting the Magic will take the series against the Lakers. But if the Lakers can play up to the potential, then they certainly have a better chance of beating the Magic than did LeBron and his Cavaliers.

I was reading through the comments on ESPN (I should now better since most of them are just flaming), and I came across an interesting one about the Magic letting the superstar get there's.

Basically the Magic beat the Lakers when Kobe scored 40+, they beat the Cavs with LeBron getting all his points.  They destroyed the Heat even when Wade scored 50.

So what if the Magic play there defense by shutting everyone else down hardcore except for Kobe.  Let Kobe get his points let he work at it, let him do everything.  Yea this may hurt them in the beginning a little, but Kobe is not in his prime any more.  He can't keep carrying the team throughout the last series of this season.  He took hits in the Denver series.  If they let Kobe do everything he will tire out and this will play to the advantage of the Magic. 

It seem like a plausible strategy, backed by regular season games where this has worked for the Magic as well.