OK, they didn't actually say that last part.

It's just what an entire nation of Basketball fans expect, and what the entire history of the sport has dictated. A team with a 3-1 lead in games - that would be the Lakers - has never an NBA Finals.

To give you an idea of how bleak it is for the Magic, I picked a few random phrases about them from headlines in their hometown newspaper, the Orlando Sentinel.

Words like "fail at basics," "ruining it," "fall apart" and "falls short" pretty much sum it up.

While the rest of Central Florida oozes a fatalistic depression, the Magic players don't seem to know when they've been kicked to the side of the road.

This is a team that has suffered through three excruciating, buzzer-beating shots from opponents - one in reach round of the playoffs.

Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala set the tone with a game-winning, 20-foot jumper in the very first game of the postseason at Orlando, dumping the Magic 100-98, with two seconds left.

Boston's Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Cleveland's LeBron James (you may have seen that one) also stunned the Magic at the buzzer, with even more painful come-from-behind game-winners.

Amazingly, Orlando moved on to face the Lakers , only to get tasered by two more aching defeats because it missed a) an alley-oop layup at the buzzer and b) two fouls shots with 11 seconds to go.

"You can't look back," Magic reserve Mickael Pietrus, the team's resident Mr. Sunshine, said on Saturday. "Every game is different. Maybe we hit one of those next time."

So far, no.

But Orlando is as persistent as a stray dog who follows you home. No matter what you do to it - yell, throw sticks - it hangs in there.

Conventional thinking might tell you that Game 5 sets up as a classic clunker, since both teams have disturbingly good reasons not to extend themselves. Orlando, as mentioned, could fall behind by double digits and succumb, seeing nothing but a long road back, leading only to two more games at Staples Center.

Meanwhile, the Lakers already have what they came to Orlando for: the victory that sets up their championship. And if they fall behind by double digits themselves, wouldn't it be nice to win the title in front of their hometown fans anyway?

The Lakers know what that looks like, since they may still be finding loose bits of green-and-white confetti in their gear, having suffered through the Celtics' celebration a year ago.

The players will tell you they are super-motivated for today's game.

"We've got guys who are focused, hungry, know what we want to do and we're ready to go," Kobe Bryant said, dismissing a question about a letdown.

Said Orlando's Hedo Turkoglu: "It's a good time to show our character as a group. We've bounced back from a lot of difficulties. I hope everybody responds really well, we get the win and go back to LA."

Athletes will be athletes. Their competitive natures dominate their personalities. So it's dangerous to assume this game will look like one of those odd games at the end of the regular season when teams are jockeying for position in the draft, or maybe in the playoff standings - You take it. No, no, please, you take it - and when losing has its advantages.

In any case, a Lakers win will assure one thing. The Magic will suffer no more misery this postseason.

Reach Gregg Patton at 951-368-9597 or gpatton@PE.com