Finally, the day has arrived. The NBA Finals begin tonight, and the matchup that all of America has waited for with baited breath is here. The matchup of two titans of the league, the biggest names this planet has ever seen. They will settle their differences on the court, and finally decide who is the best...dammit, got carried away there! You see, that's how most of the NBA offices wishes this series could have been billed. Instead, the Lakers play the Magic.

Actually, this series isn't as bad as most people are calling it now. Sure, there's no LeBron, but this series is more intriguing because Orlando matches up better than Cleveland does against the Lakers. Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu will put the onus on Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza to play consistently well or get burned by the three-point shot. And, of course, "Superman" Dwight Howard puts Andrew Bynum and the rest of the Lakers' bigs to the ultimate test. Those matchups will determine who will emerge as the NBA champion.

Here's a position by position breakdown of the matchups:

Point Guard (Derek Fisher/Jordan Farmar/Shannon Brown vs Rafer Alston/Anthony Johnson/Jameer Nelson?): I put Nelson in there for courtesy, but even if he plays, he won't be a factor. Alston played well against Mo Williams in the conference finals, and none of the three Laker PGs have had any luck shooting the ball. Alston could also drive the ball to the rack to put pressure on Fisher. Advantage: Magic

Shooting Guard (Kobe Bryant/Sasha Vujacic vs Courtney Lee/J.J. Redick): Don't get me wrong; Lewis will probably get the assignment of guarding the Mamba. But based purely on position, um, Advantage: Lakers by a mile

Small Forward (Trevor Ariza/Lamar Odom vs Hedo Turkoglu/Mikeal Pietrus): This is one of the key matchups. Ariza and Odom are the constant keys to whether the Lakers win or get blown away. Ariza needs to hound Turkoglu (a noted road playoff performer) and keep him from getting hot, while Odom needs to provide some scoring and rebounding to offset Howard's dominance in that regard. We'll see what happens. For now, Advantage: Even

Power Forward (Pau Gasol/Josh Powell/Lamar Odom vs Rashard Lewis/Tony Battie): Gasol will have matchups problems with Lewis' range, but if he plays assertively, he should have the rebounding and inside advanatage. That's a major key; Gasol must put up the same kinds of stats he did against Denver to compliment Bryant. Expect to see Battie play a little more in this series (with Lewis shifting to the three and Turkoglu to the two) to give Orlando more size against the Lakers. Advantage: Lakers by a hair

Center (Andrew Bynum/Pau Gasol vs Diwght Howard/Marcin Gortat): Bynum has contributed litlle other than fouls for most of the playoffs, and against Howard, he could set a record for fouling out. That's if the bad Bynum shows up. If the (reasonably) good Bynum shows, it's still a mismatch, but not quite as pronounced. Advantage: Magic

Bench: The Lakers have gotten inconsistent bench help throughout the playoffs. It's always a question of whether Odom is back from his planet, and they'll need him to be to counter Pietrus, who outplayed the entire Cleveland bench last round. The rest of the benches aren't as important, but I think the Magic bench has played better than L.A.'s. Advantage: Magic

Coaches (Phil Jackson vs Stan Van Gundy): As like last year, we have the Master vs the Apprentice. And last year, the Apprentice won. Jackson won't have many (if any) more chances to pass Red Auerbach in total titles, so expect to see him more active coaching than in the past (more like the Jackson who berated Odom in Denver). Van Gundy has overcome the "Master of Panic" mantra to a degree, but he needs to make sure he exploits his team's shooting and matchups advanatges to win. I just wonder how Jeff Van Gundy can be objective on ESPN? Advantage: Lakers

Prediction: Since the Lakers have a determined Kobe Bryant at the helm, and I expect the Lakers to employ a strategy similar to the one used against them in 2004 by the Pistons (let Howard dominate, stop Lewis and Turkoglu), I predict the Lakers win will the series in six games.

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