If you're talking about the NBA's title contenders this season, it's a waste of time talking about the Eastern Conference.  The league's balance of power resides firmly in the West, and it goes beyond the top three or four teams.

The Western Conference playoffs this year will be the title competition.  Oh sure, the NBA will hold their official league finals, complete with some Eastern Conference "contender," but the series will be short work for whoever wins the West.

Consider this ? at 14-10, the only Eastern Conference team with a winning record against the West is the New Jersey Nets.  Every Western playoff contender, nine teams in all, has a winning record against the East.

The West is winning the season series, 203-155.  Four Eastern teams, Orlando, Indiana, Miami and Toronto are at .500 against the West.  The Washington Wizards would be in the playoffs if they didn't have to play the West ? they're 22-23 in their own conference, 7-12 against the tougher competition.

For the past few years, the NBA has largely been about the Lakers and the tempestuous relationship between its top stars.  Once again, all roads to the league title go through the Lakers.  Despite a regular season in which they have sometimes appeared to be bored, they remain the team to beat.

This year, they are vulnerable.  It will take a special effort to knock them off, but a few teams have the weapons.  The key issue for these teams is whether they can learn quickly enough how to play championship level basketball.  The Lakers are the resident experts on championship intensity, and that gives them a huge advantage.

Three teams have a chance this year against the Lakers, each for different reasons.  None are likely to dethrone the champs, but each has an opportunity.

The trade for Raef LaFrentz and Nick Van Exel makes the Dallas Mavericks a real threat.  Dallas still has no answer for Shaq in the middle, and they will still struggle to defend Kobe on the perimeter.  However, adding LaFrentz creates match-up problems for the Lakers.

LaFrentz is a mobile big man with an accurate three-point shot.  His presence on the floor forces the Lakers to make some decisions.  Shaq prefers to stay near the basket, and his shot blocking, rebounding and intimidating presence is a big part of the Lakers defense.  But if he stays in the paint against Dallas, LaFrentz will be able to get open looks from the three-point stripe.

Everyone else on the Mavericks roster creates a similar problem for O'Neal.  If the Lakers try to use a zone, the Mavericks have multiple offensive weapons to make life miserable for them.  It's not an insurmountable problem for the Lakers, but it will force them to do things differently.  And an important first step in beating any great team is to force them out of their comfort zone.

For Dallas to have a hope of actually beating Los Angeles, they must also find a way to improve their defense.  The Lakers offense is ruthlessly efficient.  Unfortunately for the Mavericks, they still have no answer for Shaq's offense in the middle.  If he can get LaFrentz into foul trouble, the Mavericks' hopes end.

The Portland Trailblazers have the talent to play with anyone, and they're finally learning to play as a team.  With the retirement of Arvydas Sabonis, the Blazers will struggle to defend Shaq, but they have a multitude of wing defenders who can at least make Bryant think.  Pippen can still defend as well as anyone, and Ruben Patterson has proven he's a quality defender.  Derek Anderson is also a good defender, and Bonzi Wells, while not a great defender, is athletic and competitive.

The Blazers also have Rasheed Wallace, who is finally starting to play with some maturity.  The Lakers biggest weakness is at power forward ? Wallace will dominate a matchup with either Samaki Walker or Robert Horry.

For the Blazers, the question is whether they can maintain their newfound cohesiveness, and whether they've gotten over the psychological scars of their come-from-ahead playoff flameout against the Lakers two years ago.  I don't think that they have.

The third and final team is the Sacramento Kings.  The Kings have an arsenal of scorers, a mobile center in Vlade Divac who can play some on the perimeter, an immensely talented power forward in Chris Webber, a rugged rebounder off the bench, and a great wing defender to throw at Kobe.

The Kings must play the best defense of their lives if they hope to beat the Lakers.  Like every other team, Shaq remains a problem for them, but with a good plan and championship-level intensity, they at least have a chance.

There are some other pretenders to the throne that don't have a realistic chance of beating LA.  While Minnesota has won two games against the Lakers this season, they will be handily defeated in a seven-game playoff series.

The Timberwolves have plenty of good players and are brilliantly coached, but they rely too heavily on zone defenses.  In a long series, the Lakers would have time to find the weak spots and exploit them.  The Timberwolves are also lacking in playoff experience ? they've never been out of the first round.  Maybe next year.

The San Antonio Spurs, despite Tim Duncan, Steve Smith and David Robinson don't have a real chance either.  They have a teenaged rookie at point guard, lack overall talent, and are living through Robinson's obvious decline.  Plus, like the Blazers, they carry the burden of being humiliated by the Lakers in the playoffs.  The Spurs quit when they got down ? they know it, and so do the Lakers.  The Lakers know if they jump on the Spurs early, the series is over.

This year's playoff race promises to be fun and exciting, but the real battle for the NBA championship is in the Western Conference.  While a few teams have a chance, I wouldn?t bet on any of them getting it done.  The Lakers have shown they're the best playoff team in league and everyone else has a lot of catching up to do.