2009 NBA Playoffs Predictions: Lakers Over Cavs

It's the day of the Playoffs / Wow-wow-wow. No surprises here, folks. We had it in our preseason predictions in this space back in October, and we're sticking with it now: Lakers over Cavs in the NBA Finals.

Certainly, the KG and Ginobili injuries have taken a little starch, suspense and excitement out of the opening of the playoffs. While we're looking forward to seeing the return of Blazermania, watching D-Wade and CP3 for at least a couple weeks more, with the prospect of some compelling potential second-round matchups in Cavs v. Heat and Lakers v. either Blazers or Rockets, we imagine this year's postseason is going to be a rather mundane affair until the potentially enormous payoff of a Kobe-LeBron Finals, the biggest collision of superstars since the 1993 Bulls-Suns Finals, when Air Jordan met Sir Charles. The 131 combined wins for the Cavs (66) and Lakers (65) would also be the most for two Finals teams since the Bulls (69) met the Jazz (64) in 1997.

Without further ado, and for the record, here are our full playoff predictions:

EAST
First Round: Cavs in 4, Celtics in 7, Magic in 6, Heat in 6
Conf Semis: Cavs over Heat in 5, Magic over Celtics in 6
Conf Finals: Cavs over Magic in 5

WEST
First Round: Lakers in 5, Nuggets in 6, Mavs in 6, Blazers in 7
Conf Semis: Lakers over Blazers in 7, Nuggets over Mavs in 6
Conf Finals: Lakers over Nuggets in 5

FINALS
NBA Finals: Lakers over Cavs in 6

It's Playoff time, baby. Let's get it on.