Now Hear This: LA Lakers Will Beat Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals

I think I will speak for a number of sports fans in Los Angeles and elsewhere when I say that the Los Angeles Lakers, that bastion of Kobe-led purple and gold who lost a 93-87 stinker to the Cleveland Cavaliers, will beat the Cavs should both teams meet in the NBA Finals.

Now I understand that there are many similarly biased fans who believe that the Lakers' title defense is over. It's finished, kaput, the end. Or rather, both teams will NOT meet in the NBA Finals (as we saw last season).

Hmmmm.

We've just started the second half of the 2009-10 campaign and there is still a long way to go. But here, I have my five reasons why the Cavaliers are not going to succeed against Los Angeles in the NBA Finals.

1. No Magic for Orlando last season: The Orlando Magic had a perfect regular season against the Lakers, but lost the 2009 NBA Finals 4-1. As Dwight Howard and company found out, the NBA Playoffs is a different animal. LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal (11 points), and the rest of the Cavaliers will need to keep their momentum and maintain focus if they want to avoid the same fate dealt to them.

2. Focus, focus, focus: The Lakers were not focused when they faced the Cavaliers (33-11) at Staples Center on Christmas Day. And they were not focused when they took on these same Cavs on Thursday night.

The results: Missed free throws. Missed layups. Shoddy defending. And a lack of production from bench players like Shannon Brown (five points) and Jordan Farmar (five points) as well as starters like Ron Artest (Eight points, seven rebounds), Andrew Bynum (seven points, eight rebounds) and Derek Fisher (six points).

In comparison, players like J.J. Hickson (11 points, 14 rebounds) and Anderson Varejao (11 points) were able to produce alongside James, who dropped 37 on the Lakers (32-10).

The tenacity Cleveland showed against the Lakers did not surprise Bryant one bit. "This is what they do," Bryant said after the game. "We have to try to step up to match that. That's not part of our DNA. We have to step up to match that and still play skillful basketball. We blew a couple of assignments defensively. There were a couple of (lapses)."

3. A renewed desire to defend: The Lakers have to incorporate a desire to defend their championship. There can be no excuses not to have the will to start another dynasty of winning championships for one of the winningest clubs in the National Basketball Association.

"I think last year we probably were a little hungrier and played a little harder," Bryant noted. "This year when we played them the two times, they were the hungrier team. I think they sensed if they want to win a championship they're going to have to go after it. So they're playing with a sense of urgency we played with last year."

That urgency-that desire to defend-must be instilled for the remainder of this season. And that comes from improvements on the offensive glass, better shooting from the inside and outside, and a defense that is on clampdown for 48 minutes each game.

4. Road tested: As it stands, the Los Angeles Lakers are 9-7 on the road. The second half of the regular season must be where the ability to win games on the road is manifested. Last season, the Lakers were 29-12 away from Staples Center. In the last seven seasons, the team that won the Finals had at least  21 road victories to go with 31 home victories.

This eight-game Grammy road trip is going to tell a lot about whether or not these Lakers have the consistency win away from Staples Center. The early signs show that the Lakers are going to struggle unless they go on a tear and play the consistent brand of basketball that earned them the best road record in the NBA last season.

5. Lead us, oh Zen Master: The Cleveland Cavaliers may have taken this regular season road series away from the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the coaching discrepancies between Phil Jackson and Mike Brown remain staggering.

Phil Jackson won a ring as a member of the New York Knickerbockers (who the Lakers will face today at Madison Square Garden) in 1970. Mike Brown...did not play in the NBA, let along play on a NBA World Championship team.

Phil Jackson's teams played in 12 NBA Finals. Mike Brown's teams...managed to appear in just one NBA Final (2007, where they got swept 4-0 by the San Antonio Spurs).

Phil Jackson's teams won 10 NBA titles, one better than the great Red Auerbach. Mike Brown's teams...have yet to win an NBA ring, although he did win one as an assistant to Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs (2003).

The leadership and winning expertise of Phil Jackson will be critical once again to the Lakers' title defense. I'll go on the record to say that if LeBron and the rest of the Cavs were under the Jackson's tutelage, they already have a ring. Whether it's at the expense of the Lake Show, who knows.

But if the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers meet in the 2010 NBA Finals, Phil Jackson's club will turn the Cavs' regular season success on its head. You heard it here first on Bleacher Report.