2010 NBA Basketball Playoffs:Who will dethrone the LA Lakers?April 13, 2010 by Bryan Polks

The NBA Playoffs are right around the corner. The main question is who will dethrone the LA Lakers? On April 17, it would the first round of the NBA Playoffs. However, playoff bound teams are still pushing hard in their last regular season games in order to improve their playoff position.

In the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers emerged as the top seed and earned the home court advantage throughout the playoffs by having the best NBA record in the regular season. Cleveland is followed by Orlando, Atlanta, Boston, Miami, Milwaukee and Charlotte. The eight seed is still up for grabs between Chicago and Toronto.

At the Western Conference, the defending champion LA Lakers is the top seed followed by Dallas, Denver, Utah, Phoenix, San Antonio, Portland and Oklahoma City. Few games are still left in the regular season, these ranking could still change since most of the West's teams have identical standings. The Nuggets, Jazz and Suns are still fighting for positions 3 to 5. These three teams could also end up as a No. 2 seed if the Mavericks don't get the job done in their remaining games.

A lot of NBA fans would want to have a Lebron vs. Kobe NBA Finals because last year it was averted by the Orlando Magic. But it depends on how these two teams will fare and play against other top notch NBA teams. At the NBA Playoffs, the team plays are more physical and top notch defense is the main ingredient to advance towards the NBA Finals.

The sportsbook handicappers have installed the Cavaliers and Lakers as the favorites to advance at the 2010 NBA Finals. However, both teams may encounter resistance as they journey towards the Larry O'Brien trophy.


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