The NBA playoffs are simple: win or go home.

The task couldn’t be more basic. Yet, as one might expect, it is an assignment far easier said than done, particularly when the series at hand is the Finals. It takes just the right amount of skill, luck, and determination to win it all on the sport’s grandest stage. And just for good measure, a little bit of preparation wouldn’t hurt either. Which is where your humble correspondent comes in.

Both teams have a series of key strategies that, if utilized successful, could swing the series their way. These are those strategies most important for each team from my vantage point. Having examined Orlando, here are the Keys to Success for Los Angeles.

Use Kobe Bryant as a Facilitator Early: Kobe Bryant is as gifted a scorer as has ever played in the NBA. He possesses hundreds of offensive maneuvers and shifts designed to create his own shot or drive to the basket. In fact, he is so resourceful that he has at times been accused of making shots more difficult than necessary almost out of sport to increase the degree of complexity. These traits may make him a marvelous showman during the regular season but they are detrimental to the Lakers’ title hopes. The more Bryant lords over the ball, the longer he takes to initiate the offense, the more stagnant his teammates become. When the rest of the Lakers are standing and watching Bryant’s singular brilliance, they become useless, particularly if he does this early in games. Bryant needs to realize this, as he did in Games 5 and 6 of the Conference Finals, and actively play selfless early on. He should save his solo high-wire acts for the closing out tight games, when that particularly brand of excellence is not disruptive to team goals.

Exploit Your Roster’s Length to Force Adjustments: The Lakers have a myriad of swingmen that would make NBA draft analysts salivate. They are long, skilled, and versatile at nearly every position on the floor. Los Angeles would be wise to use these traits to force Orlando to become uncomfortable. If the Lakers were to start Bynum, Gasol and Odom in the front-court along with Ariza and Bryant, they would negate any advantage Orlando might try to draw from having Gasol guard Rashard Lewis and would allow Odom to bother Hedo Turkoglu. Further, replacing Fisher with Bryant ensures that the Lakers will be able to hound the Magic’s point guard (be it Alston or Nelson) and shore up the Lakers primary weakness on defense. Going big might also prevent Orlando from dropping the ball inside to Howard quite as easily, given that Gasol would become a roaming double-teamer. The Magic would then only have two options: trust Courtney Lee and J.J. Redick to hit outside shots consistently, or move Turkoglu over to point guard and lose an outside shooter.

Be Creative with the Rotations: Los Angeles’ bench has been inconsistent throughout the season, and has been downright confounding during the playoffs. Despite their unpredictable play and general fickleness, the Laker bench remains a valuable asset to Phil Jackson and his staff because of the number of permutations it allows for. With no fewer than 10 Lakers seeing significant playing time throughout these playoffs, there are an abundance of potential mismatches and cross-pairings that the Lakers can create, whether it be playing two seven footers at once, or using Walton, Odom, or Vujacic to initiate the Triangle, Jackson has a lot of combinations to play around him. Being flexible will be critical to the Lakers’ success, as they must utilize their depth and respond on a game-by-game basis as to the best course of action with respect to who is playing where and when. Being overly rigid and loyal to the status quo, particularly as it concerns starting Fisher, is a dangerous idea.

Test Dwight Howard’s Offensive Arsenal: The Lakers need to make Howard prove himself capable of creating his own shot on offense. They cannot allow Turkoglu and Lewis to decimate them off open looks created by kick-outs from Howard after an unnecessary double-team. Yes, Howard had his way at times with Cleveland’s posts, but none of them possessed the foot speed or general athleticism that the Lakers’ forward do. Forcing Howard to score off of running hooks, double-pumps, and drop-steps ensures that the Magic are not running high screen-and-roll quite as often or as effectively as they have thus far in the playoffs. Jackson-led teams are notoriously bad at defending off high picks, meaning they want no part of Turkoglu turning the corner and finding three point shooters. Instead, they should live with single-coverage down low and foul when necessary.

Make Pau Gasol the Main Hub of the Triangle: With his deft touch for passing, his excellent court vision, and his ability to create his own shot from the mid-block, Gasol is the ideal center for the Triangle system. His brilliance is only difficult to recognize as a result of his lack of touches. Simply put, the Lakers do not get him the ball on the half-post half as often as they ought to. Getting the Spaniard the ball early and often will let the Lakers better initiate their offense. If Howard guards Gasol there is the potential that the All-star forward might be able to draw early fouls on the Magic big man via his artful forays to the rim. Failing that, he still possesses such passing skills that he can find openings for cross court set-ups where others can’t. Providing Gasol with more touches is mission critical for Los Angeles: if they fail to feed him, they will almost surely lose.

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