A look at the NBA's conference finals (with regular-season and playoff records):

NO. 1 LOS ANGELES LAKERS (65-17, 8-4) VS. NO. 2 DENVER NUGGETS (54-28, 8-2)

Season series: Lakers, 3-1. Two meetings were in November, one before the trade for Chauncey Billups that remade the Nuggets. Billups averaged 18 points and 7.7 assists in the other three games, but the Lakers did a good job on Carmelo Anthony (14.5 ppg, 32.8 percent shooting) and limited the Nuggets to 13-of-61 shooting from 3-point range in the final three games. Kobe Bryant averaged 31 points, while Pau Gasol had a couple of huge performances in averaging 18.3 points and 12.3 rebounds.

Storyline: The Lakers dominated the Western Conference in the regular season, but after needing seven games to get past undermanned Houston in the second round, they haven't looked like the West's best in the playoffs. Denver has, overwhelming New Orleans and Dallas and looking capable of making its first NBA finals appearance.

Key matchup I: Derek Fisher vs. Billups. Billups is playing in his seventh straight conference finals and is the reason the Nuggets, who've made it this far for the first time since 1985, won't be nervous. Fisher was badly outplayed by Houston's Aaron Brooks and his shot has been off lately, but the Lakers will count on his experience against Billups.

Key matchup II: Gasol vs. Kenyon Martin and Nene. Gasol's 21-point, 18-rebound performance in the clincher against Houston looked like a couple of his games against Denver this season. He went for 16 and 16 in the first meeting, and 27 and 19 in the last. The Nuggets' frontcourt tandem will try to be physical with Gasol to prevent him from those types of big nights.

X-factor: Andrew Bynum. The center has been wildly inconsistent since returning from his knee injury, and the Lakers are hoping for the Bynum they saw in Games 5 and 7 against Houston (14 points), not the scoreless one from Games 4 and 6. He averaged 11 points and 9.3 rebounds while shooting 62 percent against Denver — and the Lakers won all three times he played.

Prediction: Lakers in 7.