Lakers Finish Season #1 in West

In what was possibly the most competitive conference race in NBA history, the Lakers emerged victorious, snagging the West's #1 seed. The top spot was earned with huge victories over San Antonio last Friday and New Orleans on Sunday.

By virtue of earning the top seed, the Lakers have booked a series with the Denver Nuggets, the West's sight seed. The series opens this Sunday, April 20th, at high noon. The whole schedule is as follows (all times PT):

• GAME 1: NUGGETS @ LAKERS SUN 12:00 PM
• GAME 2: NUGGETS @ LAKERS WED 7:30 PM
• GAME 3: LAKERS @ NUGGETS SAT 2:30 PM
• GAME 4: LAKERS @ NUGGETS MON 7:30 PM
• **GAME 5: NUGGETS @ LAKERS WED TBD
• **GAME 6: LAKERS @ NUGGETS FRI TBD
• **GAME 7: NUGGETS @ LAKERS SUN TBD

The NBA appears keen to make this as much of a national "prime time" series as possible, with only two games at the normal 7:30pm time slot and the rest on weekend afternoons.

There really were no easy matchups in the West this year, but this was about as good as it could have gotten for the Lakers. Denver is a relatively scary team, with Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, but the Lakers won the season series 3-0, all of those games without Pau Gasol.

The major benefit of finishing #1 is that the Lakers have a relatively easy route through the West. In the second round (assuming a first round victory of course) they would play the winner of Houston and Utah- not a particularly difficult series in prospect. Meanwhile, in the bottom of the bracket, Phoenix, San Antonio, New Orleans and Dallas have to battle it out early, with the (possibly worn out) winner facing the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

I will reveal if I believe the Lakers will win their first round series, and my predictions for all the other first round series tomorrow in my First Round Playoff Preview. Meanwhile, check back later tonight for my review of my pre-season predictions.