No Place Like Home for the Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers are now a remarkable 39-1 at home this season following their pounding of the Boston Celtics 107-76 on Sunday. If that final score isn't enough, the Cleveland held the defending champs only nine 1st quarter points.

The Cavaliers can lock up home-court advantage throughout the playoffs by just winning one of their final two games, and that's only if the Lakers win their final game against the Jazz.

With such a dominant record at home, I can't see the Cavaliers not making it to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years.

The Celtics are still the favorite to face the Cavaliers in the Easter Conference Finals despite getting manhandled in their last outing.

The Magic have been average over their last 1o games which isn't what you want going into the playoffs. The Celtics are also a strong team at home so if the Celtics and the Magic meet, I look for the Celtics to win in six games.

The Western Conference isn't that simple. The Lakers would seem to be the favorite, but the West is much more balanced than the East.

We all know what the Spurs are capable of being one of the most consistent teams in NBA over the past decade, so don't count them out despite losing Manu Ginobli for the playoffs.

The Blazers, Mavericks, and Hornets are also teams capable of making some noise in the playoffs.

The Nuggets, however, have looked excellent as of late. They've won 12 of their last 14 including big wins over the Hornets and Mavericks.

The Nuggets have a great chance to upset the Lakers and sneak into the NBA Finals. Even though I think they have the best chance, I see them losing in seven games to the Lakers.

As good of a home team the Cavaliers are, they're just average on the road. The Lakers have more veteran leadership and have the return of Andrew Bynum to bolster their inside presence.

The only home loss Cleveland has suffered this season came to the Lakers 101-91 on February 8th.

I think the Lakers will be able to steal one in Cleveland again and take home the NBA title in seven games, helping Kobe Bryant get that monkey off his shoulder of not being able to win an NBA title without Shaq.