It's the beginning of the playoffs. At this moment in time, the Lakers and the Celtics are 2-0 in their respective playoff series against Denver and Atlanta.

Over in Boston, a new chant emanates from the Boston Garden.

"Come on, Lakers."

A defiant battlecry.

In Los Angeles, a rebuttal.

"We want the Celtics."

The revival of a dormant rivalry.

But are we getting swept up by the hype? And if we are, is it a bad thing?

In my personal opinion, the answer to both questions is a definite yes.

Look, the Lakers and Celtics are each two games into a long postseason. Can either team afford to look ahead to June and simply assume that they'll be there? Let's check out the routes that both teams will likely take.

The Lakers are currently 2-0 against the Nuggets. Only through overwhelmingly stacked odds will the Nuggets pull this upset off.

We then face the winners of the Houston-Utah series. Again, only through a major upset could the Rockets pull this off. Thus, we assume our second round opponents to be the Utah Jazz. These guys are the best at utilizing home court advantage. Too bad the Lakers have home court for 4 out of 7 games in the series. But let's assume we can beat them. Will they put up a fight? It's very possible that we'll go all the way to game 7. The Jazz haven't played against our Gasol lineup, so hopefully it'll overwhelm them and we'll beat them in 5-6.

If we can pull that off, I'll go out on a limb and assume that the Spurs will beat the Suns, and the Hornets will beat the Mavericks. Spurs versus Hornets. Hardy experience led by Tim Duncan versus exuberant youth led by a scrappy young CP3. In this case, it doesn't really matter which team we face; both are tough teams, the number 2 and 3 seeds in a stacked Western Conference. I know a lot of you may say that the Hornets would be our best bet, but remember, our last game against them was a) at home, and b) they were in a slump. Right now they're rolling on all cylinders over the Mavs. They're not a team you want to mess with.

Lakers road: Denver => Utah => Spurs/Hornets

If I'm Phil Jackson, I'm not even thinking about the Celtics. We've got plenty to worry about on our road to the Finals.

As for the Celtics:

I'll go by my intuition and assume...

Celtics road: Atlanta => Cleveland => Detroit

Who has it worse? Right off the bat most would say that the Lakers have it much rougher, but look again. The Lakers are playing against one of the worst defenses in Denver. If we can sweep this series, it won't take too much out of us. Then there's the Jazz and the Spurs.

But then look at the East. Atlanta isn't much of a threat, so chalk them up to being slightly easier to beat than Denver. However, Cleveland isn't a terrible team. LeBron's already given the Celtics trouble in the regular season. And let's look at their season series. 2-2. Looks about even, right? WRONG. One of Cleveland's losses to Boston came when LeBron wasn't playing. The other loss came after a back-to-back for the Cavs. One of the losses for Boston came when KG wasn't playing. And uh, not to mention the huge trade that went down for the Cavs. The Celtics are playing an essentially revamped Cavalier roster, except that hey, LEBRON is STILL THERE. These two teams are wayyy closer than you'd expect, and I think LeBron might be able to pull this series to a game 7. Still, the Celtics have homecourt advantage, so let's give this to the C's.

And Detroit is always a formidable opponent. I don't think I need to go into detail; they've always had the same strengths. Excellent, and I mean truly excellent team chemistry, a versatile big man in Sheed, a sturdy defender in Prince, a great shooter in Rip, a poised leader in Billups, and the experience of being an NBA contender for most of this millennium. And their bench isn't shabby, either. Do they have what it takes to at least tire out the Celtics? I sure hope so, if the Lakers are going to meet them in the Finals.

Both teams have a ways to go. Neither team can afford to look ahead and assume ANYTHING. As appealing as a Lakers v. Celtics series is, we need to concentrate on the here and now, and only hope that our Lakers squad feels the same. Let's cheer hard for our Lakers right now, because they're going to need to bring it every night. Put your Laker gear on and settle in. It's going to be a long (and very memorable) playoff run.