Time To Count Some Pre-Hatched Chickens

Alright - now on to some more serious matters... The Lakers vs The Suns. No it's not Los Suns, it's The Suns. Screw it - they can call themselves whatever they want. In about a week or so it's gonna be the setting Suns. Here's hoping I won't be eating this post (and some crow) in a week or ten days.

I do believe these are the best two teams left in the West. Without Yao the Rockets this season never had a chance. The Mavericks are over achievers. The once great Spurs are now old. And the Lakers are what they are - the best in the Western Conference. They're peaking at the right time and for the most part are healthy. Kobe has some issues with his finger and Andrew Bynum has a knee problem but otherwise things look good. After eighty-two games and the first two series the Lakers look sharp. I hope the week off didn't dull the edge. I was actually quite surprised at the sweep of the Jazz.

Whoever wins this series will have to most likely face the Celtics. And no - I'm not using the hindsight of the first game against Orlando as a benchmark. I also think Doc Rivers can and will out-coach Stan Van Gundy any day of the week. I had a feeling the Celts would end up on top of the East if they stayed healthy. I said this last season before the playoffs. I do believe Orlando is a pretender (along with Cleveland) and I said it. The Celts play a team defense that no one in the East can match. Boston also out hustles ALL the other teams in the NBA from what I have seen. That includes the Lakers and most of the Western Conference teams. But on paper the Lakers are definitely number one. Now if we can only get these games played on a sheet of paper.

Should the Lakers prevail against Phoenix and meet Boston they are virtually the exact same teams that played in the finals two years ago. The difference being the Lakers are healthy this time. The Lakers have home court advantage and that (as I have said many times) will make all the difference in the world. I hate the way calls go in the NBA when teams are at home. They referees are anything but consistent but that's the way it is. Home court teams ALWAYS get the calls and everyone knows it. The next two series will be no different. Of course I'm getting ahead of myself again so lets get the Suns out of the way and hope the Celts can do the same with the Magic. Then It's time for some payback.