Lamar Odom Is Key for Lakers vs. Spurs

Tomorrow night the Lakers begin their Western Conference Finals series against defending champions, the San Antonio Spurs.

The Lakers and their coaching staff are very familiar with the Spurs, now having played them five times in the playoffs over the last 10 years.

The Spurs will not be as familiar, having only played the Lakers once with Pau Gasol. They were without Manu Ginobli for that game and were routed by about 20 points.

The main matchups are going to be between MVP Kobe Bryant and arguably the best perimeter defender in the league, Bruce Bowen. Bowen might bother Kobe, but we all know that the league's best player is going to have a huge series regardless of Bowen's scrappy and physical defense.

Another matchup is going to be Pau Gasol and Tim Duncan. Both Duncan and Gasol are going to have good, but not a great, series. Duncan's great fundamental defense will bother Pau, and Pau's length and athleticism will bother Duncan a bit.

A major guard matchup I'm looking at is going to be between Finals MVP Tony Parker and veteran guard Derek Fisher. Parker will get his points, but Fisher is going to make him work hard for them.

Fisher will have his usual solid series, providing the Lakers with big shots, being a pest on the defensive end, and a great leader in the huddle and in the locker room.

The last major matchup is going to be between the Lakers' and Spurs' benches. Both were one of the top in the league, with San Antonio having much more experience, while the Lakers are more energetic and youthful.

Supposing Ginobli is going to start, the main bench players for San Antonio are Michael Finley, Robert Horry, Kurt Thomas, and Ime Udoka. For the Lakers, Sasha Vujacic, Ronny Turiaf, Luke Walton, and Jordan Farmar come off the pine.

All of the Lakers' bench has struggled mightily so far in the playoffs. They need to step up and give the starting five of the Lakers a lift.

In my opinion, the x-factor in this series is going to be Lamar Odom for the Lakers. The Spurs have solid defensive players for both Kobe and Gasol in Duncan and Bowen, but have no one even close to capable of guarding one of the most versatile players in the league in Odom.

Oberto and Kurt Thomas are way too slow, and Ginobli, Finley, and Udoka are too small to guard Odom. Expect Odom to have a big series by driving past the big men when they're guarding him, and posting up the smaller players.

I expect the Lakers to win in six or seven. They have way too much firepower for the Spurs to matchup with, and have too much experience, especially in their backcourt, to have a collapse like the Hornets did.

Kobe Bryant is too hungry to come this far and lose, Odom is going to be a beast, and the Lakers have not lost at home so far in the playoffs.