I think that every year the Lakers have a new challenge. The first championship they had to deal with Portland coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference Finals and being 12 minutes away from elimination. In 2001, everyone expected them to run the table after going 11-0 in the first three rounds, then they had to deal with AI. Then last year, they had to overcome the Sacramento Kings in their legendary 7 game series. Although being tied with Minnesota 1-1 in the first round is hardly a battle (yet), I'm not worried. These guys are battle-tested and should be the favorites until someone beats them.