NBA Playoffs: Lakers vs. Spurs - Game 5

San Antonio started off the game with a 17-point lead determined to force a Game 6 and stay alive, but Los Angeles would not let that happen last night as they won Game 5, 100-92, and became the 2008 Western Conference Finals Champions. This is the Lakers 29th time in franchise history that they have made it to the NBA Finals and will now have to wait for whichever team that comes from the Eastern Conference: the Boston Celtics or the Detroit Pistons.

I know I predicted that Kobe Bryant would have a monster game in Game 4, but I guess he wanted to have that special game in Game 5 instead. Last night the Spurs could not stop Bryant as he scored 39 points and literally picked apart the defending champions' defense all game long.

I know that the Lakers deserve to be in the NBA Finals, but what happened to the San Antonio Spurs? If someone told me that Los Angeles was going to get there in just 5 games against the defending champions, I'd say they were crazy. Manu Ginobili was San Antonio's x-factor if they were going to beat the Lakers in this series and he did not play well at all. He scored just 9 points in Game 5, averaging only 12.6 points a game in the Western Conference Finals when he averaged 19.5 during the regular season.

The Lakers definitely surprised me because when the Spurs get a big lead in a game like they did in Game 5 (17 points) and Game 1 (20 points), San Antonio usually come away with a win but that was not the case in this series. It really shows how confident the Lakers' players are in each other, because to be so calm in pressure situations for such a young team and believe they can overcome the biggest leads against the best teams like the Spurs, thats impressive.

Its funny because at the beginning of the regular season, it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers organization was falling apart. Bryant was demanding to be traded, the Lakers hadn't made it out of the first round in the playoffs since 2004 and they had no chemistry as a team. You really have to hand it to head coach Phil Jackson to keep this young team together and owner Jerry Buss to not trade Bryant and to make the the trade for Pau Gasol. In doing so, Buss changed the Lakers from an 7th or 8th seed playoff team to a championship contending team. Now Los Angeles is in the NBA Finals and prepared to win the 15th World Championship in their franchise history. Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers, they are now the 2008 Western Conference Finals Champions, now go play like champions.

NBA Playoffs: Lakers vs. Spurs - Game 4

Last night the Lakers proved why they were the best team in the Western Conference and arguably in the NBA with a win on the road in Game 4 against the Spurs , 93-91. San Antonio was undefeated 7-0 at home in the 2008 playoffs, but after last night's loss to Los Angeles that may be the last home game of the Spurs' season.

After the Lakers' embarassing loss in Game 3, it looked like they played more aggressive in Game 4 right from the beginning of the game with a 22-8 run and they never looked back. Although Kobe Bryant (28 points, 10 rebounds) didn't have that monster game like I predicted he would, it was Lamar Odom's performance with 16 points and 9 rebounds in Game 4 that was the x-factor in the game, responding well after playing so poorly in Game 3.

The Lakers did give their fans a little scare after being up 93-86 with 50 seconds left and almost blowing the game. With the game practically in the bag, the Lakers' Pao Gasol misses 2 free throws, Bryant turns the ball over and before you know it the Spurs score 5 quick points and have the ball to win the game with 2.1 seconds left. The call of the night and maybe of the series happened next where the Spurs' Brent Barry pump-faked a 3-pointer causing the Lakers' Derek Fisher to jump in the air. Fisher did bump into Barry but instead of drawing the foul, Barry took one dribble to the right to get a better shot and missed it. There was definitely some contact from Fisher, but the referees said it was a no-call and although every fan in San Antonio thought there was a foul, I believe the referees made the right call.

If Barry would have leaned into Fisher to draw the foul instead of trying to get a better shot, then the referees should have blown the whistle but since he didn't, there was no foul. Also, I believe that when there is less then 3 seconds left and the game is close, the referees should not make a call that could determine whether a game is won or lost. Since Barry took a 3-pointer, if the referees called a foul on Fisher, Barry would have had 3 foul shots to maybe win Game 4 for the Spurs and go back to Los Angeles tied up 2-2. If it was a regular season game then it wouldn't have mattered as much if there was a foul, but this is the Western Conference Finals where each game is crucial and a referee's call should not determine such a big game.

San Antonio should not blame a referee's no-call for why they lost Game 4, they just did not play good enough to beat Los Angeles. Once again Manu Ginobili had a disappointing game off the bench with only 7 points, and even though Tim Duncan (29 points) and Tony Parker (23 points) played well, to beat the Lakers who were at the top of their game last night the Spurs needed more from Ginobili. I'm not saying the series if over yet, but very few teams have won a series in the playoffs being down 3-1 and I don't think Bryant and the Lakers will let that happen being just one game away from the NBA Finals.

NBA Playoffs: Lakers vs. Spurs - Game 3

It was a must win game for the Spurs last night being down 0-2 to the Lakers and they came through like defending champions do with a 103-84 win to get them back in the series down 1-2. San Antonio was not going to be beaten at home in Game 3 after being embarassed on the road at Los Angeles in Game 1 & 2 in the series and kept themselves undefeated at home through the playoffs with an 8-0 record.

The Spurs trio (Duncan, Parker, Ginobili) had been outplayed in Los Angeles, but on their home court in San Antonio they came through combining for 72 of the Spurs 103 points and totally shut down the Lakers' Lamar Odom by holding him to just 7 points and making him cause 5 turnovers. It was especially good for the Spurs to see Manu Ginobili back to his old self in Game 3 scoring 30 points off the bench, with 22 in the first half. Ginobili only scored 17 points in the first 2 games combined, and was that spark last night that the Spurs have been waiting for all series.

Kobe Bryant got his 30 points for the Lakers, but the next highest scorer was Pau Gasol with 15 points, a huge compliment to the Spurs defense. Bryant had been scoring at will all series and like all great scorers, he got to the foul line many times but that was not the case last night only getting to the foul line once. The Lakers need more production from Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher and their bench to win Game 4 on the road because San Antonio was down 0-2 against New Orleans last round and still won the series in 7 games.

The big difference in this round is the Lakers have the 2008 NBA Most Valuable Player in Kobe Bryant and their head coach Phil Jackson is 40-0 after winning their first 2 games in a playoffs series so San Antonio needs to play all their games like they did in Game 3 if they want to get to the NBA Finals again. Bryant still has a lot to prove since he was the main reason that Shaquille O'Neal was traded and hasn't done anything since then but now that the Lakers are in the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2004, don't be surprised if Bryant scores 50 points to win Game 4.

Bryant knows how important Game 4 is because the Lakers don't want to make this a 7-game series with San Antonio. The Spurs are not only the defending champs, they always play big in big games which is why they have won 4 championships in the past 9 years. If Bryant ever wants to live up to the hype being compared to Michael Jordan, he will have to win 3 more rings by the end of his career to match Jordan's 6 rings. Bryant knows this is a golden opportunity to get his fourth ring this season so I believe Bryant will put up a performance next game to do whatever possible to come out with a win and spoil the Spurs hopes of becoming back-to-back champions.