Los Angeles Lakers at Orlando, Game 3 (Los Angeles leads 2-0)

It's been the same story for either team, all season long. Which team shows up?

Good Magic? Bad Magic? Goofball Lakers? Gameface Lakers? Somehow, the NBA's biggest Goofus and Gallants made their way to the Finals, and they're still playing according to script.

Kind of. The Lakers, over their last four postseason games, have pretty much hit their stride. After a season of taking offensive possessions off (while still managing to rank amongst the best offensive teams in the NBA) and making poor decisions on both ends of the floor (while still remaining, say it with me, one of the best defensive teams in the NBA), they've become consistently great, again. They're the constant, in this equation.

Orlando, you may have noticed, is different.

Contrary to what Avery Johnson just told me on ESPN, the Orlando Magic never were "an offensive team." The Magic were 11^th in offensive efficiency during the regular season, and though they feature a pair of offensive-minded small forwards surrounding Dwight Howard(notes) on the inside, it's amazing how mainstream media types still completely and totally flip the script on the NBA's best defensive team.

That said, the Magic were and are far, far better than the team that scored only 110 points over the first 72 minutes of this series. Hell, every team is better than that. And yes, the Lakers continue to be underrated defensively, but as it is with the Magic being bad, no team is that good defensively.

So you knew there was room for improvement going into Game 2. As expected, we got a better, closer game out of it, but how to explain an overtime Magic loss (with a chance to win in regulation, with five points spinning out of the rim in the five-point OT loss) with all those Magic turnovers? And continued poor (to put it mildly) play from the team's guard corps?

Well, defensively, the Magic improved. They returned to their roots.

Save for letting Derek Fisher(notes) fly free a few too many times, the Magic paid attention to the three-point line, only allowing the Lakers to hit 5-15 from behind the arc. 15 points in 15 possessions? Not so good. Not so average, unless you're the Clippers. Even they aren't that bad.

The team zoned and forced Trevor Ariza(notes) into being a bit of a slasher, and more of a decision-maker. Not the best roles for Trevor, who missed 10 of 13 shots. The Magic hoarded defensive boards and took in plenty of offensive rebounds, which allowed the team to shoot just as many field goals (+1) and free throws (-1) as the Lakers in spite of that massive turnover disadvantage.

Teams usually just don't go from being out-rebounded by 15 to winning the battle by nine over the course of one game, but that's what happened with Orlando. And while you might disagree with me, to these eyes, it looked like Orlando's effort and energy improving, rather than the Lakers falling off. Though, as you'll remember, the Lakers seemed to get quite a few loose balls in Game 1, and those things are always coin flip situations that you can't really blame players for.

The rest of the rebounding? Yes, you could blame the Magic for that following Game 1. Stan Van Gundy seemed to have no qualms about doing just that in interviews coming after the first contest in these Finals, and I had no problem listening to it. He was spot on.

So, with all those attributes in play, with the recorded history of the Magic being able to dominate glass, to work the defense, to hold the best (when at their best) offensive team in the NBA to a poor offensive night, we can bank on things sustaining in Orlando, right? For at least Game 3, correct?

That's up to the Magic, as it usually is. You hate being as flip or cliché-driven as this, but it's up to them to flip the switch. And if they bank on the home crowd flipping things for them, they're out of luck. The Magic crowd will be loud, boisterous, and up to the challenge; but they can't grab any loose balls. They can't find Lamar Odom(notes) in transition. They won't be the ones who are to blame if Luke Walton(notes) tips a missed free throw back out.

Feeding Dwight Howard more often? That's the popular tag, but Howard had his chances over the first two games, and failed. He's turnover prone, he's always been turnover prone, and I don't see why things would change between Sunday and Tuesday.

Of course, playing at home and wearing the white uniform will help relax things, but it's not as if the Lakers traded Andrew Bynum(notes), Pau Gasol(notes) and Phil Jackson to the Cavaliers for Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes), Anderson Varejao(notes), and Mike Brown on Monday afternoon. Regardless of setting, matchups are matchups. Especially with Lamar Odom helping on the baseline. Goodness, he's great at that.

And what if the Lakers aren't the constant? What if they give way to the typical Game 3 Finals blowout win from the home team? That's not the end of the world, but if the Lakers do fall back a bit, it doesn't tell us that a 109-81 win for the Magic suddenly means Dwight Howard has learned to meet the ball on entry passes, or go over either shoulder properly for the hook. It means some things bounced the home team's way early on, the Lakers relented, and the open shots at home turned it into a one-sided affair.

Knowing how history often works in these situations, that's what I'm banking on. At some point, you can't shake human nature.

The Lakers know that, really, all they need is a game in Orlando. Worst case scenario, they drop all three to a team they've outscored by 21 points over four contests so far this season, and they head back to Los Angeles with two to play at home for the win. Not that I see that as anywhere near likely, it's just something to consider while the Lakers try to trick their brain into thinking that a game that isn't a "must win" actually is a "must win." All while their counterparts are playing desperate, heated basketball.

None of the greats have been able to trick themselves like that. Not Jordan's Bulls, not Magic's Lakers, not Russell's Celtics. Shaq and Kobe's Lakers did it against the Nets, but the Nets of that era weren't a great team. The East of that era dissolves any attempt at comparison.

This isn't to say I wouldn't be surprised if the Lakers put the boot down in Game 3 and pull out the win, I'm just telling you that you can't get too down on a team if they don't. And that a one-side blowout win for the Magic isn't a turning of the tide. Moderation, people.

Such are the vicissitudes of holding serve on the home court, the 2-3-2 lineup, and competitive spirit versus real world application. It's all about mind games at this point, because as unpredictable as these two teams are and have been, the physical pairings are more or less sussed out.

Enjoy it. This should be a loud, anxious game.

BDL live blog around 9 p.m. EDT tonight, featuring TV's J.E. Skeets, Trey Kerby, Matt Moore, and yours truly tap-tap-tapping away from Amway Arena in lovely downtown Orlando, Florida.