More than staying afloat

Life for the Los Angeles Lakers has been nothing short of amazing this season. Some time ago, we thought 2008 would be otherwise back in L.A. & rightly so: they couldn't seem to get past the first round of the playoffs to save their tails last year. As it stood, they were well on their way to has-been status, a team who didn't stand a chance in a talent-laden Western Conference & never would either. If that wasn't enough, the star of the show, Kobe Bryant, didn't like what he was seeing & wanted out.

But how the times have changed since Kobe's outbursts last summer. The Lakers are starting to look like a legitimate contender again; Kobe's been Kobe as usual -minus the spazz-approved theatrics; Phil Jackson's life is once again looking brighter than ever, even since his good old days with Michael Jordan back in Chicago.

Now they're facing a team with nothing to lose in the San Antonio Spurs, a team whose approach is "pure vanilla." Los Angeles has one star of the show in #24; on the other hand, with the Spurs, it's a lot like picking your poison: five starters, a trustworthy bench & plenty of veterans who know the Conference Finals Routine by heart.

San Antonio knows that they're going to get a handful in terms of a perfect matchup:
The Lakers aren't going to be a pushover like the past few seasons post-Shaq; Kobe is more than happy to score at will like Lebron James if San Antonio goes to sleep on him defensively;
Los Angeles does have a reliable group of players who can step up if need be;
The Lakers aren't like the Jazz (San Antonio's opponent in last year's Western Finals) in the same way that they're not the Hornets.

Could this go to 7 games? We can't say for sure, but in the Western Conference, perfect matchups don't get any better than this.