2011 Playoff Preview: (2) Los Angeles vs. (7) New Orleans

2 Los Angeles Lakers (57-25) vs. 7 New Orleans Hornets (46-36)

Inside the Series

Season Series: LAL (4-0)

Scoring Leaders: Kobe Bryant (LAL): 25.2 PPG
                            Chris Paul (NO): 16.0 PPG

Assist Leaders: Chris Paul (NO): 9.8 APG
                         Kobe Bryant (LAL): 4.7 APG

Rebounding Leaders: Pau Gasol (LAL): 10.2 RPG
                                   Emeka Okafor (NO): 9.6 RPG

Key Players

Los Angeles: C Andrew Bynum
With the Hornets' lack of size, Bynum should be able to bully his way down low.

New Orleans: F Carl Landry
Due to their inferior size, Landry needs to give Okafor a huge hand when dealing with Bynum, Gasol, and Odom in the post.

Key Matchup

Derek Fisher vs. Chris Paul
D-Fish needs to find a way to slow down CP3. Fisher isn't exactly the standard for defense, but if he can derail Paul's game the Hornets will go down faster than (insert dirty joke here).

Prediction

Game 1: New Orleans 82, Los Angeles 101
Game 2: New Orleans 91, Los Angeles 108
Game 3: Los Angeles 114, New Orleans 98
Game 4: Los Angeles 97, New Orleans 94

Los Angeles wins 4-0

There are way too many mismatches to count in this series. The Lakers have the substantial advantage in size, experience, and oh yeah...they have Kobe Bryant.