Lakers Maintain Homecourt Advantage

At this point, the Los Angeles Lakers are likely the favorite to win the NBA Championship -- and rightfully so. Boasting a 2-0 series lead over a tough-minded, well-coached Jazz team, the Lakers are now 6-0 in the playoffs. They cruised past the Nuggets in round 1, a team that was arguably the most talented No. 8 seed in league history.

But I don't think the Lakers are unbeatable. They play beautiful team basketball -- thanks in large part to "The Zenmaster" Phil Jackson -- and they feature the greatest basketball player in the universe, Kobe Bryant; but Los Angeles leaves much to be desired on the defensive end. Kobe and Derek Fisher are phenomenal defenders, but I question the defensive toughness of the Lakers' front line, particularly Pau Gasol.

Everyone has been raving about Gasol since he joined the Lakers, and some of the praise is deserving. Gasol is probably one of the top 30 players in the NBA, and he's uniquely skilled for his size. However, I'm not sure about his nerves. His mid-range jumper has been off in the postseason, and he's dropped a number of passes that would have led to easy buckets. The vast majority of his scores have been uncontested lay-ups or dunks.

Defensively, Gasol is skinny and soft. Utah's front line of Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur isn't explosive enough to make Gasol pay in the post, but David West, Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett could all give Pau a ton of trouble in the future -- depending of course, on who advances.

Utah's virtually unstoppable on its home court, so I'd be shocked if the Jazz don't win at least one of the next two. That said, I'm sticking with my initial prediction: Lakers in five.

For the Jazz to make me look like an idiot, Deron Williams has to stop worrying about his teammates, and start shouldering the early scoring load. Williams, who recently made my NBA Top 10 list for the first time, needs to take more shots in the first half. His offensive arsenal is incredibly impressive, and if he needs to go shot-for-shot with Kobe at times, then so be it.

Those of you who stuck with Game 2 until the end, got to see what D-Will is capable of -- 5-of-5 from the three-point line, three of which came in the final four minutes. All of the threes came off the dribble, making the task a bit more difficult.

All things considered, I do think the Lakers are the best team in the NBA. However, the margin between them and the Spurs and Hornets is extremely slim. Hopefully we get to see the Lakers and Hornets in the Western Conference finals -- that'd be a hell of a series.