As many of you are aware, three of the four conference semi-final series ended in a sweep, which definitely caught me by surprise (I predicted that two of the three swept series would go 7 games…at least I got the winning teams right). The only series that isn’t cooperating is the Celtics-Cavaliers series, which Boston can close out Thursday night at home. So I’ll hold off on an Eastern Conference Finals preview until that series is settled. I will say though that even if Cleveland manages to pull this series out, the buzzsaw that is the Orlando Magic is waiting for them and as of right now I don’t think I could seriously pick them to advance to the finals. That analysis is for another day, though.
#1 Los Angeles Lakers vs #3 Phoenix Suns
The Suns finally managed to get past their arch nemesis, the San Antonio Spurs, in the playoffs, and honestly they made it look pretty easy. None of their victories against the Spurs were blowouts, but none of them exactly came down to the final shot, either. The Lakers were equally impressive, however, in dismissing an arguably stronger Utah team (even without Mehmet Okur). Kobe Bryant seems to have regained his swagger at the right time, and Pau Gasol has been playing out of his mind (23.5 PPG on 61% shooting to go along with 14.5 boards and 2.75 blocks per game in the Utah series…holy crap). The Lakers once again look like the team to beat in the West, however the Suns should be able to test them.
If you look back to my first round playoff preview, you will notice that I picked the Suns to beat the Lakers in the conference finals in 6 games. I had good reason for doing this at the time, as Phoenix came into the playoffs as the hottest team in the NBA and the Lakers sputtered down the stretch. My feelings about Phoenix haven’t changed much, however if they want to reach their first NBA Finals since Sir Charles Barkley’s MVP season of 1993, they need to be able to contain the rejuvenated front line of the Lakers. This is what doomed the Jazz, as Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom had their way with them for the entire series pretty much (the three of them combined averaged about 33 rebounds per game in the series), and on paper it looks like the Suns will have a similar problem. They may have an ace up their sleeve though with Robin Lopez expected to play in Game 1 on Monday night. His presence inside should give the Suns a fighting chance since the Lakers are no longer an elite defensive team (especially with Derek Fisher on the floor), meaning the Suns should be able to score on the Lakers and keep these games close.
I get giddy with joy at the thought of a possible Magic-Suns final (three pointers are fun), and while this may actually pan out, I can’t pick against the Lakers after seeing what they did to the Jazz. This isn’t a great matchup for the Suns (LA won the season series 3-1), and I expect the Lakers to find themselves once again in a familiar place: the NBA Finals.
Prediction: Lakers in 6
-The BOMB
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