Along with Stern and much of the civilized world, I assumed we'd be "witnessing" LeBron vs. Kobe in the Finals soon.  Somehow the Magic and the Nuggets have other plans, which suits me just fine.  It is a given that I'm rooting for Denver out of a reflex dislike for the Lakers.  However, I'm a little more torn on the issue of the Eastern Conference Finals.

On one hand, I'm happy that the Magic are doing so well.  It legitimizes the fact that they were a very good team and we should have no shame falling to them (especially short handed).  On the other hand, I can't help but see this series as evidence that the Cavs are beatable.  If we had just held onto that 10 point lead in game 6, perhaps we'd be the ones making Cleveland look mortal.

For the most part I like the idea of the Magic advancing because it keeps LeBron from tasting that first title and gaining that Championship swagger.  Also, one would hope that he gets sufficiently frustrated enough to force his way out of Cleveland and into a New York situation that would hopefully take a few years to work out.  If all goes right for us, we'll have a few more years of holding King James back before he starts winning an MJ like 6 titles in a short span of time.  On the other hand, if the Lakers manage to win the West, I'd rather have LeBron there to stop Phil from breaking Red's record.  See how confusing this is to me?

Of course the Magic could beat the Lakers and the Nuggets could beat all of them.  Who knows anymore?  I don't really have much of a rooting interest (other than my anti-Laker bias) so I suppose I can just sit back and enjoy the ride.