Lakers – Kobe Bryant earns trip to NBA Finals
May 30, 2008 by James Edwards
Filed under Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA Basketball, Pau Gasol, San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan
NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.
Legendary Jerry West and Kobe Bryant celebrate winning the Western Conference title
Image details: San Antonio Spurs v Los Angeles Lakers, Game 5 served by picapp.com
The Lakers defeated the Spurs and earned a trip to the NBA Finals.
Kobe Bryant scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs 100-92 on Thursday night and win the conference finals in five games.
Stern rejoices
Commissioner David Stern could get his dream matchup of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. the Boston Celtics after all. Two big money cities, one from each coast, filled with championship lore, fighting it out for the NBA Title. What more could Stern even dream of? Well, how about the series goes 7 games?
The matchup he feared was the San Antonio Spurs vs. the Detroit Pistons. That series would feature a lot of defense and low TV ratings. Sorry, but when one team has a player known as the Big Fundamental and the other team features no one, it is hard to market to the world.
Consider that in Detroit the Hockey games have been drawing better than the Basketball games.
Pittsburgh’s 3-2 win on Wednesday night earned a 2.8 national rating and an 18.2 rating in Detroit, beating out the 15.9 rating for the Pistons’ matchup with the Boston Celtics.
Game 5 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference finals drew a 5.3 national rating.
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How can your host city be beaten by Hockey? You remember that sport, the one with the puck? Hockey and the Red Wings are huge in Detroit.
One final note and it is not even close, Boston and LA have been to more finals individually in Basketball than any other teams. Just look at all the titles that Red Auerbach won with Boston.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson has won nine championships, tied for the NBA record with former Boston coach Red Auerbach.
Lakers fired up!
The Lakers could not contain their excitement. The Western Conference had so many teams that finished with close records that to finally win a trip to the finals was just too much to handle. It is a good thing the Lakers had home court advantage.
The Lakers are 12-3 in the playoffs, including 8-0 at Staples Center, where they haven’t lost in two months. They have won 14 straight home games and 21 of their last 24 postseason games at home.
“My heart’s still pumping, that adrenaline is still running from the game,” said Lamar Odom, who had 13 points and eight rebounds. “Maybe when I sit down and have something to eat, I’ll realize what just happened.
“We came out here, played our game, and won. It’s satisfying, but one more step.”
The NBA Finals start next Thursday.
As always, any NBA Basketball related comments are welcome.
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