EASY DUNK: Lebron James is considered by former Laker great Jerry West to be the best player in the game today. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
In the East, the Orlando Magic are trying to stop the “beast of the east” in the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were dominant all season long and steam rolled their first two opponents in the playoffs.
In the West, the defending conference champions Los Angeles Lakers are looking to get back to the finals to take care of some unfinished business from last season. But a very good Denver Nuggets team, that seems to be peaking at the right time, stands in their way.
LeBron and Cavs Will Continue Dominance
It’s amazing the difference a year can make.Since the Olympics last summer, small forward LeBron James looks like a completely different player, helping make his team look like a completely different team, especially on the defensive end of the floor.
The Cavs boast one of the best defenses in the league, while James has become one of the most dominant defenders in the game.
As good as this Cleveland team is offensively, their suffocating defense led them the best record in the NBA by causing turnovers which led to fast breaks.
Along with the great defense and King James, the major improvement the Cavs have made is in their point guard play with the addition of Mo Williams. This in turn has helped make shooting guard Delonte West a better player.
With Williams at the point, not only does James have the facilitator he needs, but also a player that can hit those outside shots along with West. Now James has more confidence to kick it out when the when defenses quickly collapse on him.
The Magic are led by a dominant big man in center Dwight Howard whose play in the post leads to what Orlando likes to do best, kick it out to their shooters like small forward Hedo Turkoglu and shooting guards Mickael Pietrus and J.J. Redick.
While there is really no stopping Howard, Cleveland should have an easier time slowing him down than the undermanned Celtics did without their defensive leader, center Kevin Garnett. The Cavs will likely use a combination of centers Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao along with power forward Ben Wallace to slow down Howard.
While the Magic will give the Cavs their toughest series yet, they stand no chance against James and Cleveland.
They will stop the Cavs from recording three series sweeps, but that’s only because they are talented enough to take at least one game from Cleveland—but that’s about it.
I’ll take the Cavs in five.
Lakers to Grind Out Another Series
I WANT YOU: Kobe Bryant is not ready to pass the torch to King James quite yet. (Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
L.A. has been the favorite in the West all season long, but since the Denver Nuggets acquired point guard Chauncey Billups in a mid-season trade, the Nuggets have become a very close second.
The acquisition of Billups completely changed the fortunes of the Nuggets as Billups has been a floor general. He brings a ton of playoff experience with his years in Detroit where he was the finals MVP, leading the Pistons to the title in 2004.
The 32-year-old Billups has shown he is still one of the best point guards in the NBA in his homecoming. Expect Chauncey to hit some big threes in this series as he looks to lead his hometown team to its first ever finals appearance.
Small forward Carmelo Anthony along with Billups will carry Denver’s offensive load. “Melo” is one of the most prolific scorers in the league and has quietly established himself as one of the top five players in the league.
The Nuggets also match up better in the post with the Lakers because, quite frankly, after Rockets center Yao Ming went down, they had no chance in the paint with a 6–6 power forward matching up against 7–0 power forward/center in Pau Gasol.
Then comes shooting guard Kobe Bryant.
With the doubters already out on the Lakers ability to make it back to the finals, Bryant will come out looking to prove his team is still the best in the west.
Bryant will have an easier time against whomever the Nuggets throw at him defensively than he did against the Rockets’ small forwards Shane Battier and Ron Artest, who are arguably the best defenders against Bryant. But even they could not stop Kobe, as there is really no stopping Kobe. You can only try to slow him down.
In the end this will be a wire-to-wire series with some great playoff games and the Lakers pulling out the series in seven.
Kobe vs. LeBron
So this leads to the match-up the NBA and its fans have been waiting for—Kobe vs. LeBron.Will there be the passing of the torch with James winning his first championship or will Kobe continue his reign as the best in the NBA and get his fourth ring?
It’s a bit early to say with the conference finals still ongoing, but the match-up would be the ultimate clash of the titans.
But if Denver does pull the upset (I don’t think Orlando has a chance of doing so), a Carmelo vs. LeBron match up wouldn’t be too bad either.
Matt Sugam also writes for The Daily Targum at Rutgers University.
