L.A. Solidifies Itself as Proverbial 'Favorite'

This year's booming NBA cliche: The playoffs have already started out West. As teams jockey for home court advantage, or just plain try and stay in the postseason, these games matter and teams are thus comporting themselves.

So hopefully it's not too bold to start drawing conclusions about what might happen in he playoffs. And based on this weekend's action, it's pretty clear that, Andrew Bynum or no Andrew Bynum, the Lakers are the favorite. On Friday, they took down the Conference-leading Hornets, 107-104. The final was close, but the Lakers dominated for much of the game, and kept Chris Paul under wraps until near the contest's end. Then yesterday, there was no qualification needed: The Spurs, who are supposedly ready for their annual championship hunt, got dismantled to the tune of 106-85.

Everyone's been waiting for Bynum, expecting him to either put the team over the top or cause complete and total chaos. But hey, people: The future is now. If the Lakers can convincingly take down the Hornets and Spurs, the youngster is icing on the cake. If he is ready, they become the clear favorite; if not, he does what he can, and Jackson relies on this current configuration.

Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, a comfy Lamar Odom, and a wealth of skilled, focused role players. Coached by that bearded guy with all the rings. I know the West is crazy and all, but that roster, plus the recent data, has me thinking this team is just fine, thank you.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.