The Lakers get home court until the Western Conference finals by virtue of their top placing in their conference. They beat the utterly undermanned Sacramento Kings, who opted to shelf Ron Artest, Kevin Martin and Brad Miller, in Los Angeles.
The Lakers get home court advantage over the #8 seed, which will be determined on the last day of the regular season. That distinction could go to the Dallas Mavericks or the Denver Nuggets. As far as match-ups go, the Lakers hold the series victories against the Mavericks and Nuggets.
I personally feel the Lakers are better off squaring against the Denver Nuggets. Why? Because Carmelo Anthony is a choker, a quasi-star who makes the worst off-court decisions given his stature. He recently apologized for an DUI arrest. Carmelo Anthony's off-court troubles mean a ticket to the Western Conference Semis for the Lakers. The Dallas Mavericks have yet to realize their ROI on the Jason Kidd trade, so I'm OK with that as well.
What can we expect in the first round for the Lakers? A five game series victory.
Tags: Lakers
