I bet you thought this was going to be about LeBron James right? Not a chance, this blog is about the best player in the first round of the playoffs: Christopher Emmanuel Paul III.

Chris Paul has been nothing short of brilliant in his playoff stint. He ate Jason Kidd for lunch, and then dominated the closeout game with a convincing triple double. All while limiting Kidd to 8/7/6 with 2 turnovers a game and dominating with a 25/12/6 line, barely a turnover a game, and 2 steals per contest.

The Hornets were somehow underdogs before this series started, as everybody was choosing the playoff tested Maverick veterans for an upset special. CP3 is far too dominant a player to allow that to happen and if ever there was a time to jump on the bandwagon, it would be now.

If you’re wondering. In my opinion, the only team that can beat the Hornets is the Lakers, and that’s assuming they show up defensively. The Hornets will open up their series against the Spurs soon, and I for one want the Hornets to win.

First of all, I’m tired of seeing the most boring team in the NBA advance round after round, year after year. But more importantly I don’t really see how the Spurs can stop CP3. They only have one stopper in Bruce Bowen, and he gives up a lot in the quickness category and would probably get smoked pretty easily. So Tony Parker is left to defend CP3. Not known for his tenacity on the defensive end, Tony Parker should play some average defense while allowing CP3 to do whatever he wants on the court.

But why else would the Hornets beat the Spurs? Well let’s take into account how they won last round. Tony parker averaged 29.6/7/3 with 3 turnovers and 1.4 steals per contest. With CP3 guarding him, he won’t get such gaudy numbers. While Manu will aim to pick up the slack, how much better can Manu realistically do? He had a good but not Manu-esque first round averaging 18/2/3 and Tim Duncan played out of his mind averaging over 24 ppg.

The key for the Hornets will be David West. He will be guarded primarily by Tim Duncan, who will in turn be drawn out of the paint giving CP3 open lanes to create with. SA will try to close in on Paul whenever he drives, so the execution by West on the kickout must be flawless. But I honestly believe they can make it happen.

Well, unfortunately this prediction will ruin my brackets but I expect the Hornets to win the next round and head into the Western finals with a 50/50 shot at advancing over the Lakers.

However, the fan in me says the Hornets will make it to the Finals as we usher in a new superstar to the NBA.

We are all witnesses of CP3.