Yes…this article is about six weeks too early…and yes I am looking into the future…with Kevin Garnett possibly not playing in the entire playoffs and Orlando’s starting forwards (Hedo and Lewis) not at full strength the best chance for any East team to beat the Cavs will be the Hawks, they have the length to compete with Lebron and Joe Johnson should have have a field day against Delonte West.

Out West…the Lakers start off by playing the Jazz who are already with a hobbling Okur and Boozer isn’t at 100% yet…they have already taken care of the Rockets multiple times this season and the winner of the Mavs/Nuggets series (both will win their first round matchups against the Spurs and Hornets respectively) won’t give the Lakers any problems in the Western Conference Championship round….honestly…the best chance any team out West has of beating the Lakers would be the Blazers…they match up very well against the Lakers from the 1-8 positions..in fact I would argue that Brandon Roy/Rudy Fernandez is a better starting/backup scenario than Kobe/Sasha (which by the way is the reason the Lakers lost in the Finals last year..not because of Gasol’s so called softness but because Kobe had to guard Rondo/Pierce/Allen at the same time)…nonetheless I expect the Lakers to come of of the West and face the Cavs in the finals.

Now this is where it gets interesting…I know most people believe that the lakers are more talented..because it is true, the Lakers on paper do have more talented players than the Cavs do…but the Cavs team is so much better built in terms of their offense and skillset that each brings to their team, I believe they do have the better overall team than the Lakers.  If you are telling me that Ariza is a better player than Wally Sczerbiak then you are highly mistaken, Wally is one of the most underrated scorers in the league and has averaged at least 18 and 5 in three different seasons and should easily be able to handle Ariza and Odom during stretches of a game..who along with Mo Williams (who averaged 18ppg this season) spread the floor beautifully for Lebron to do his work.  Big Z holds the middle down very well and should be able to play Bynum to a draw; yes Gasol will win the matchup of whomever is guarding him but Mo Williams will also easily win his matchups against the Lakers PGs

So it comes down to the best players on each team.  The Lakers won both the games this season against the Cavs (one without Bynum) and the main reason was because of Kobe’s defense against Lebron.  If anyone has watched the Lakers play this season Kobe is the BEST on the ball and 1-1 defender in the league (with Kirk Hinrich coming in second) , yes he doesn’t block as many shots as Lebron or Wade..but he reguarly stops the opposing player on defense than either of those do, and I feel that he will take his D to a whole another level against Lebron in this series and allow Gasol and Bynum to handle majority of the offensive work for the Lakers.

Lakers in 6