Our prediction? Two matchups will determine the outcome of tonight’s NBA Finals Game 2 (8 p.m. EST, ABC): Kobe Bryant vs. Ray Allen, and Pau Gasol vs. Kevin Garnett. In breaking down Game 1, you could credit L.A.’s rout primarily to Kobe (and/or the refs) keeping Ray on the bench and out of rhythm, and Gasol treating KG like the hairy, sweaty guy did Ben Stiller in Along Came Polly … Garnett looked old and creaky on Thursday, but he’s gone back and forth from good days to bad days throughout the season, and could very well have a new chip on his shoulder. Read More »

Alright, so maybe we were getting spoiled by the consistently awesome awesomeness of these NBA conference finals. Before yesterday, it had been down-to-the-wire games and 40-point efforts from Kobe and LeBron in between dominant performances by ‘Melo and Dwight. But last night, the Nuggets simply laid the hammer down on L.A. for the first outright blowout of this round, coming one point shy of a 20-piecing in another dominant performance on their home floor … On paper, there’s no way the Nuggets should have dominated this game. Read More »

Monday was another off day for the L in preparation for the conference finals: Lakers host the Nuggets tonight (9 p.m. EST, ESPN), while the Cavs and Magic tip off tomorrow. Despite getting all they could handle from a Houston squad whose third-best player had to be its best player, all while Denver smacked Dallas around, L.A. still has to be considered the favorite. Read More »