King for a lifetime, fool for a... lifetime...

I've completely forgotten that the regular season begins in less than a week. I guess my head is buried too deep in hockey and football. Really, with the NHL back and better than ever, the NBA is a bit of an after-thought for me, right now. Probably doesn't help that the Lakers look... (sigh) less than good. Anyway...

Can't imagine anyone beating the Spurs this year. I think Houston (if the Suns don't recover from their Amare problem) is actually the second best team in the West, but due to seeding I doubt they'll meet SA in the conference finals.

The real fun should be who comes out of the East. I like Indiana. Imagine for a second that the brawl at Auburn Hills last year never happened. Okay, now tell me how much this Pacers team scares you. They're damn good and appear to have better chemistry than Miami.

As for the Lakers (and there's always an "as for the Lakers..."), this could be a very long season. Yeah, Phil Jackson is back, but this roster is lousy. Look at it! Seeing Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum on there (especially Brown) just makes me want to puke.

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
1. New Jersey*
2. Philadelphia*
3. Boston
4. New York
5. Toronto

Central Division
1. Indiana*
2. Detroit*
3. Cleveland*
4. Chicago*
5. Milwaukee

Southeast Division
1. Miami*
2. Washington*
3. Orlando
4. Atlanta
5. Charlotte

Western Conference
Southwest Division
1. San Antonio*
2. Houston*
3. Dallas*
4. Memphis
5. New Orleans

Northwest Division
1. Denver*
2. Seattle*
3. Minnesota
4. Portland
5. Utah

Pacific Division
1. Sacramento*
2. Phoenix*
3. Golden State*
4. LA Clippers
5. LA Lakers

Eastern Finals
Indiana over Miami

Western Finals
San Antonio over Sacramento

NBA Finals
San Antonio over Indiana