Sport and Cinema.com

As the NBA regular season begins over the Christmas holiday weekend, we provide a quick trip around the league to assess the strengths and weakness in the different divisions and offer our view as to who will win it all in June.

The strain on Kobe to carry a team that was supposed to lean more on Ron Artest and Lamar Odom has been evident down the stretch. The health concerns of Andrew Bynum will likely increase the burden on Bryant. For the Thunder to have a shot, they will need to have Russell Westbrook step up as it is likely that Kevin Durant will be slowed from the attention showered on him by the Lakers D.

The Lakers, after a surprisingly testy series that went the distance against Houston, now have a short turnaround, unlike their Jazz series, and face a hot and well-rested Denver Nugget team starting tonight in Los Angeles.