It absolutely was because the Lakers were stronger
than their opponents. It's all about
match-ups. The Lakers had an extremely favorable path to the finals because they presented a match-up nightmare in particular to Utah and Phoenix. But if things had gone a little differently and the Lakers had to face Denver along the way, we might not be having this conversation.
We could talk about "what if's" for the rest of the series and it won't mean a damn thing. Keep your Laker-colored glasses on, wellbilldancesays, and have fun watching the series through them.
Like you, I hope the Lakers sweep the Celts right out of their own arena. But IMHO, that won't happen because neither team has a decided match-up advantage over the other.