by James Goodwin

Created on: May 03, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

If one listens to the experts and pundits, the NBA Finals matchup is already set: Boston and Los Angeles will meet for the championship. It's almost as if the games don't need to be played this year, the team with the best record from each conference will meet each other in a matchup supposed by some to be reminiscent of the old Magic-Bird rivalries.

Hold the phone.

Boston's supposed superiority is being tested as they were pushed to a decisive Game 7 by the Atlanta Hawks. But what the poor Celts and biased sportswriters don't realize is that they are not even going to make the Eastern Conference Finals this year, whether they survive Atlanta or not.

The Western Conference is more predictable: The Lakers and Spurs will ultimately meet and the Spurs will return to the Finals after surviving unbelievable opponents in the New Orleans Hornets, and then the Los Angeles Lakers. I doubt either team will make it to the Conference Finals easily, but I do believe the Lakers will find a way past Utah, and the experience and dominance of the Spurs will become evident as they smite their two opponents.

The problem with the Eastern Conference is the a team that nobody seems to give any credit: The Cleveland Cavaliers. Somehow, in a move closely resembling the annual ruse by San Antonio, everyone has forgotten that the Cavaliers are the defending Eastern Conference Champions, and that they have the best player in the league, a man on a mission.

When the Cavs surprised everyone last year by storming through their conference only to lose to San Antonio in the Finals, Lebron James went to work. He was embarrassed by his performance and all the work he did in the off-season has been apparent. He led the league in scoring, the first Cavalier to ever do so. He became the Cavaliers all-time leading scorer at age 23, and put up regular season numbers only seen by the likes of Michael Jordan and Oscar Robertson.

His reward for all of his accomplishments? He was dropped out of the MVP conversation, and his team was given little chance in the playoffs, with ESPN ranking them 16th as the playoffs began. Many predicted them to lose in the first round.

If this wasn't motivation enough, the Wizards and their fans insulted him over and over in their series, calling him 'underrate' and a 'crybaby'. Lebron maintained his poise through the flagrant fouls and taunts, and finished off the Wizards, in Washington, for the third year in a row with a triple-double in Game 6.

Lebron James is talented and

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