Women!

Apparently devoting the entirety of my free time grates on the lady friend. Somehow she got the idea that she's more important than watching Mike D'Antoni's post game press conference. I've been doing something wrong.

But now that means I'm stuck squinting out from my cave into the daylight. Which by extension means no Orlando/Toronto, Lakers/Denver, Boston/Atlanta, or Houston/Utah.

I guess it's okay. Only one of those games is worth watching, anyway, and now I have carte blanche tomorrow. But while I can't watch, I can still fantasize, so before I head out I'll look into my crystal ball and tell you what I see.

Orlando and Toronto are closely matched. Both are built around one big and a lot of shooters. I think Orlando has the better constellation revolving around Howard, but the Raptors have more depth and better ball handlers around Bosh. I'm not saying anything here we don't already know. This next line won't surprise anybody either: Dwight Howard is much, much better than Bosh. Unless Toronto can shoot 60% from deep, they shouldn't be able to overcome the rebounding advantage Howard will provide. Toronto kept home court in Game 3 and it's possible they will again in Game 4, but I'll be stunned to see this go more than 6. When I get back, I might just skip over this box score and mentally pencil in Howard for 25, 20 and the W.

Of course, Lakers/Nuggets is the one game to watch. Who's putting up the insane stat line today? Kobe? Pau? Carmelo? AI? The Lakers are better than the Nuggets like the Celtics are better than the Hawks. In 100 Game 7s, they'd probably win 90. But at home, with the Nuggets feeling some heat, and still no Laker with Melo's size, speed and athleticism, the Nuggets should come out looking for blood. Then again, that can be quickly mitigated by another ridiculous display from Kobe.

As to the Celtics and Hawks... There are no such matchup problems created by Atlanta. There's nobody polished enough to challenge a reliable defense. The Hawks best bet is to hope the Celtics go ice cold, and when that's your only chance, you might as well just get on the phone with your travel agent.

Who saw Utah losing at home? Does that mean this is a series? If nobody watches, do they still play? Maybe I'm just underestimating Houston. Maybe with Rafer Alston and some swagger back they are actually legit. Unfortunately for me, this is the one game I'll probably be back home to watch, so I'll probably have to find out.

Stay tuned and Go Cavs!

(I chose that picture because Rip and Tracy match the headline best.)