Over the last decade or so, the San Antonio Spurs and the Los Angeles Lakers have dominated the world of professional basketball: winning 7 of the last 9 NBA Championships. Although through the years, both teams have gone through some transformations, the superstars have remained the same: Tim Duncan and Kobe Bryant, Gregg Papovich and Phil Jackson. Wednesday night’s game 1 of my NBA Western Conference Finals Prediction, undeniably, represents the start of a brand new chapter in the books of these franchises’ marvelous histories. Sportsbetting.com has the Los Angeles Lakers a –7 point betting odds favorites to win game 1 when they host the San Antonio Spurs +7 and the Over/Under has been set a combined 196 total points.

Even though these two teams have been the most prominent in the NBA, since the departure of the “best of all-time” -Michael Jordan- they both seem to be heading in different directions, in the not so distant future.

For the San Antonio Spurs, their peers have considered them: the best defensive, most composed, and best coached veteran team in the NBA today.

They are truly the epitome of a championship caliber club: Just when you think they’re done… they rise. And just when you think it’s safe to bet against them… you’ve lost.

They are a team with a strong/sold foundation; they don’t dazzle you with spectacular dunks, or flashy passes. The San Antonio Spurs are the most fundamentally sound team, in today’s not so fundamentally inclined league. But there’s also a downfall to prolonged greatness… they’re old.

This year (2008) might easily be the last chance the San Antonio Spurs will get to complete back-to-back championships in the Duncan-Papovich era.

Tonight, they will need all the superlatives above mentioned, as they’ll go against the future undisputed NBA kings: Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, and the Zen-Master, Phil Jackson.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, they don’t think, they don’t hope, they don’t pray... they KNOW they can win. Kobe Bryant has made his players, believe. This team is playing with so much confidence, it pours out of the building. And whoever steps onto the floor (with the Lakers), with anything less than their A-game (on any given nigh) will get blown out.

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