I still think the Lakers have it...
Nobody on the Magic can guard Kobe. Who will be stuck with the task though? Probably Lewis. Who the hell else would do it, Courtney Lee? Alston? Hedo can try but will fail miserably. They can't even come close.
But nobody on the Lakers can guard Howard. If Bynum can get his ass to playing better than a third grader...he is the only one with even comparable strength.
The Magic have a better bench but I consider the Lakers starting lineup to be superior...
Howard guards Pau, of course.
Odom and Lewis would be interesting but I don't think Lewis' defense is good enough for a player as versatile as Odom, but the same could be said for Odom's defense against Lewis. This will be a good matchup.
Ariza will probably be guarded by Courtney Lee and Ariza should have a field day on him. He is wayyy too good for Lee. And he will shut Lee down defensively, but Lee isn't much of an offensive threat, so that's not saying much.
Kobe and Hedo, of course Kobe will win this battle. Kobe won't have to exert near as much energy on defense as he did against Carmelo, so shouldn't get fatigued as quickly. Hedo is a good offensive player, don't get me wrong, but it won't be the beating and banging that Kobe had to endure trying to guard Melo in the post.
Fisher and Alston, should be fairly even, unless Alston gets hot. Then it's Magic's advantage. Alston's D isn't as good as Billups, though, so Fisher should have a better offensive series.
As far as the benches go, of course Orlando has the advantage. Not much help on the bench for LA. Some Farmar here, Shannon Brown there, Luke Walton fuckin' some shit up.
Let's hope the starting lineup comes out rested and ready to play for the Finals!