Are the Lakers still the obvious favorite?

At the beginning of these NBA playoffs I figured the Lakers would cruise to the NBA finals and eventually win the championship. But as the Denver Nuggets keep getting big wins, L.A. is slowly becoming the second best team in the west. Here's the deal: The Lakers have three players who can be dominant when they're all clicking, Kobe, Pau and Lamar Odom. But the Nuggets are stacked player after player who have thus far been labelled as underachievers in their careers but are now reaching an extremely high level of play. Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, Kenyon Martin and Nene ALL have the ability to average over 20 pts a game, not mention Chris the birdman Andersen on defense who is second in the league in blocks. And with Chauncey Billups running the point, they look like a championship-caliber team.
After the Nuggets smoked the New Orleans Hornets in game 4 of the first-round series by a comical 58 pts, their momentum hasn't let up, even when Disco Dirk came out firing this afternoon. No worries for George Karl's squad. They applied perfect defensive schemes and came out on top 109-95.
Phil Jackson has reason to be worried about his next ring. I would still call his team the front runner for the title. But, I think Denver is more likely to beat the Lakers than Cleveland is. Denver has an extremely poised and skilled point guard who knows how to win championships. Their energy as an all around team cannot be matched by any other in the league, and they have the big men to control the versatile duo of Gasol and Odom. The Cavs on the other hand are riding on home court advantage (which as we've seen so far matters ALOT in the NBA) and one other thing: The best player in basketball. Be afraid Kobe, be very afraid.