Four teams. Four strong teams.

Two teams vying for the East. Two for the West.

Gone are the flashy one-man teams, as well as the youthful inexperienced ones.

It's all about toughness now. Experience. Killer instinct.

See who's in and who's out.



The San Antonio Spurs are up against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lakers lead series, 1-0.

The Lakers just won a while ago in a low-scoring but exciting game. The Spurs, coming from a close victory in New Orleans last Tuesday, blew a 20-point lead in the second half, thanks to Bryant's heroics. Bryant, who performed when his team needed him most, and in front of his home crowd, scored 25 of his 27 in the second half, including a go-ahead jumper that clinched the come-from-behind win. Kobe also had 9 assists, 5 in the first half, when, according to Gregg Popovich, Kobe did a "trust-his-teammates thing" and came out unsuccessful.

Emdyey's say: This is a classic match-up between two teams that won seven of the last nine championships. The Spurs are not strangers to this territory, as opposed to the Lakers who only have three players with Western Conference Finals experience, namely: Bryant, Fisher, and Walton. Gasol and Odom haven't reached this plateau playing for their former teams.

Experience will be a big factor, but the revitalized Lakers and an inspired Kobe Bryant should be too much for the San Antonio Spurs, who almost fell for the young New Orleans Hornets. I expect this to be a close match-up, though, as both teams, especially the Lakers, shall be looking to protect their homecourt. The Spurs, however, need to steal one in Los Angeles. The teams may not be evenly matched-up against each other, but homecourt advantage is on the Lakers' side. Lakers in 7.

The Boston Celtics face East Finals veterans Detroit Pistons.
Celtics lead series, 1-0.

Fatigued or not, the team with the best record delivered once again in their homecourt.

The Celtics go up 8-0 in the Boston Garden, as they defeated the Detroit Pistons in the first game of the East Finals. As expected, it was a low-scoring, defensive oriented game. Both teams are known for their tough, and sometimes dirty, defense. Kevin Garnett lead the Celtics with 26, Paul Pierce with 22, and sophomore point guard Rajon Rondo outplayed 2004 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups, pouring 7 of his 11 in the fourth quarter. The Celtics, coming off a Game 7 victory, got just a day's rest. On the other hand, the Pistons had a week to prepare. Go figure.