Power Rankings: Cavs No. 1 seed, but are they the best?

Updated April 14

The Cavaliers will have home-court advantage as far as they go in the NBA playoffs. They don't deserve it.

Sure, LeBron and Co. have dominated the Eastern Conference pretty much from the get-go, thus earning the right to have Games 1 and 2 -- and potentially 5 and 7 -- at home in all series leading up to the Finals.

But why should a team that was swept by the other conference's regular-season champ and didn't play nearly as difficult a schedule get an advantage should it match up with the Lakers in the Finals?

Out West, Kobe Bryant's Lakers tangle with eight other teams that have at least 45 wins on the season. (Getty Images)

Kobe's club couldn't match the Cavs' record, but its season has been every bit as impressive, if not more so.

Eight of the 11 winningest teams in the league reside in the West, and this is despite the fact these heavyweights beat up on each other all season. For the Lakers to play nearly one-third of their games within this elite group and still come within a whisker of matching the Cavs' record is remarkable.

•  Playoff Race

I'm not saying the Lakers should get home court should they face the Cavs in the Finals. The point is: Having regular-season record in an unbalanced schedule dictate such an advantage is worse than awarding it to the winner of the All-Star Game.

Alas, the Cavs have clinched the home-court edge, and thus must be considered at least a co-favorite with the Lakers to win the championship. Here are the odds I'd put on each team:

Lakers (6/5): Nothing will come easy in the West, but key injuries to Manu Ginobili and Tracy McGrady should make the Lakers' march a bit smoother.

Cavaliers (7/5): They should enjoy watching the Celtics and Magic beat up on each other in Round 2 while they coast into the East finals. That freshness could be the difference in a relatively even battle with Boston.

Celtics (9/5): Make no mistake about it: Only three teams have a chance to win it all. The Celtics have coasted this far. The question is: Can they flip the switch now that the time has come?

Field (10/1): That's right, you get all 13 other playoff teams and 10/1 odds. You want it? You'd have to be a sucker to take it. The Mavericks could surprise in the West (until they run into the Lakers) and Orlando is the only other team in the East with a shot (no way it beats both Boston and Cleveland, though). Remember this about the NBA playoffs: You don't often get surprises.

That's why getting the home-court advantage throughout the playoffs was such a big thing for the Cavs.

And why it's not fair.

I'm picking the Lakers to go all the way, so I'm moving them ahead of the Cavaliers in my final regular-season CBSSports.com Power Rankings.