Kobe (photo. Mannion)Why the Lakers won: Kobe Bryant. In a close-out game it’s all about how your star performs, and Kobe came through when it mattered with his best overall game of the series. He set the tone by sparking a run late in the first half, then carried it on through the third quarter when L.A. grabbed the lead, and through the fourth quarter when they held off the Spurs and got the win. Scoring, passing and defensively, he was the best player on the floor.
Why the Spurs lost: Inability to close. It seems so uncharacteristic for a core group (Duncan, Parker, Ginobili, Popovich) that’s won three championships over the past six years, but the Spurs couldn’t finish the Lakers when they had them against the ropes. They led by 17 in the first half and the Lakers had no energy, and yet they allowed them to crawl back into the game and eventually take it over.
Key numbers: Kobe Bryant (39 pts); Pau Gasol (12 pts, 19 rebs, 4 blks), Tim Duncan (19 pts, 15 rebs, 10 asts); Tony Parker (23 pts).
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May 29th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
Gareth says:
Hopefully Bruce, Horry, and Finley retire and we never have to see them again.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
bruce bowen signed a 2yr extension THIS season. you’ll be seeing his ugly mug some more.
but expect ime udoke to start midway thru next season at the small forward spot
May 29th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Three Stacks says:
WHOOOOO!!! Back to the Finals!
That 4th quarter proved it, there is no one that is on Kobe’s level right now. That was just beautiful to watch.
Did you see that camera shot on Pop when Finley got fouled on a 3 in the last minute? He looked at his assistant coach like, “now they call it.”
Sasha is a bitch for taking that last 3 pointer. If Lakers lose for some karmic reason, I’m blaming Sasha Vujacic.
Bring on the East.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
yallallreadyknow says:
hahaha…jerry west doing the presentation.
hahaha. funny as all hell to me.
is he still on the payroll? he must be after he helped orchestrate that pau gasol robbery
May 29th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
rangerjohn says:
lakers fans at the game have NO CLASS
jerry west just asked the fans “lets give the spurs a hand, they played blah blah blah” and what happened the fucking fans boo!!!
NO CLASS
i was going to say lets keep the title in the west but fuck the lakers lets go detroit or boston either one after that bullshit no class
May 29th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
GEE...Only talk to one cat and he won't squeal says:
He showed why he is the greatest right now. Hands down no other player touches him.
We are also now boarding and as we board we would like to welcome players from the San Antonio Spurs to our summer cruise.
There will be a player signing on deck 5 where you can find Tracy McGrady, Tony Parker, Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Allen Iverson, LeBron James and a host of other players.
Also for your viewing pleasure you can catch the remaining NBA teams on the big screen in the lounge on deck 2. Tomorrow night will be Boston vs. Detroit. Hope to see you there.
Please enjoy your cruise.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
godfreyallstar says:
cocksuckers unite!!!! well the nba got what it wanted. stern should send out the hitmen so that donaghy doesnt reveal that the league fixes games too. crawford is sittin fat right now cuz he just got his check for making 2 critical non calls in the last 20 seconds of game 4. congrats david stern, put some bricks on donaghys feet and throw him in the river
May 29th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
godfreyallstar says:
and am i the only one disturbed by the NBA saying “my bad” after refs make game altering calls/non calls? wtf is up with that?
May 29th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
GEE...Only talk to one cat and he won't squeal says:
ranger what is “blah blah blah” I never heard that song lol.
Booooy you are heated! LOL
I guess I am numb to losing by now as much as my squad has been put out lol.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
JoeGym says:
Thiago Splitter better be able to score inside & run for a big man b/c they still cant run a legit 3 man fast break for easy buckets.
Duncan, Parker & Ginobili create all the Spurs shots. When the shooters dont take them, let alone make them, it wears those 3 out.
They need a backup PG to spell Parker & a legit 3rd perimeter scorer. I could see them getting a CDR & fitting him in with a free agent or 2.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
rangerjohn says:
gee, you will never hear a SA croud boo the opponent no mater who they are, only in the snotty ass staples center do you hear that shit,
i congratualted the lakers on the half time thread but i officially recend said congrats.
NO CLASS!
May 29th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
rangerjohn says:
by the way congrats on the tripple double, the man destroyed every laker he came up against. while kobe is the “best in the game today” duncan is not far behind, but he is quite, and he is the best in the game over the last 11 yrs
May 30th, 2008 at 12:02 am
Myrie says:
GEE–
Nah, no cruise.
Spurs ‘Gone Fishin’
May 30th, 2008 at 12:02 am
GEE...Only talk to one cat and he won't squeal says:
well I have no dog in the fight but I predicted Lakers Boston a looong time ago so I am happy prediction wise.
Hope Boston will go ahead and handle theirs now.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:04 am
daquest?on a.k.a Heavy Artillery says:
immm sooooo happy the spurs lost.. hey dime how come yall analize the games that are on tnt only?? oh and another thing i wanted this series to go 7 games just because i wanted to hear chuck kenny and EJ now i have to suck up at least two games of the espn crew
May 30th, 2008 at 12:05 am
GEE...Only talk to one cat and he won't squeal says:
LOL that is messed up Myrie you ain’t even gone let them hit up the cruise lol funny.
Spurs fan will try to be classy tomorrow but they all know they are in for a very long day Fri. LOL.
I am just happy Parker never got what …over 25.
Happy Duncan did well.
Manu got it back for all that floppin, so he had some poor games.
Bowen was Bowen although he has clearly lost a step.
Real happy for Lamar cause didn’t he have a family tragedy and this should help keep his mind off that.
Happy for my dudes on the west coast too.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:09 am
rangerjohn says:
lamar lost his young son (3-4 yrs old)
duncan with the trip doub was very nice but to little to late.
just for the record, before hand i will be here some but not a lot tomorrow, my son graduates tomorrow (pre school, i didnt know they had graduations for that) i will stop in and take the lumps like the man that i am, but i gave the congrats but i give no respect to the classless
May 30th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Rafa23 says:
despite his shots not falling, again a great game by duncan. even though he destroyed gasol, here is a question: is gasol better defensively than amare stoudamire?
May 30th, 2008 at 12:12 am
Big Freeze says:
oh shit, i had to laugh at post 7.
but seriously, as much as i love to hate the Spurs, I got mad respect for Duncan, Popavich, and Kurt Thomas. Get rid of everyone else and build the team around Matt Bonner.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Kally says:
@rangerjohn
Boo Hoo, whine, whine. You’re looking for anything to cry about. Lakers fans are classess for booing the Spurs? And I guess those Spurs fans chanting “Horry!” when David West was face down on the floor injured were innocent saints. STFU man, I get you’re a homer but now you’re just being ridiculous.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:14 am
Big Freeze says:
yo, good shit rangerjohn. usually hardcore fans like yourself won’t show their face after their team loses, but you got some some class and humbleness (is that a word?), similar to the spurs organization.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:15 am
rangerjohn says:
rafa, gasol is better then amare on d BUT NOT MUCH. how about gasol with a career high 19 rebounds. he had a great game (for gasol) but he got out played and the lakers may realize he was not the end all be all for the lakers. the spurs didnt respect his game one bit and with good reason. kendrick perkins will hold his own on him lol and odom cant handle KG.
KG gets his ring this year
take that, no class
May 30th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Big Freeze says:
what are you talkin abour danquest post 15? van gundy and mark jackson are the shit. i hope they do the finals on abc. but then the post game on tnt.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:19 am
rangerjohn says:
man fuck you kally you know nothing about what you speak.
you are piussed because you know i am right. attack attack attack, bring it on i can take everything you got lmao no class.
@ freeze, i am a huge homer for the spurs (only team in SA so it goes with the territory) but they got beat by the better team bottom line. spurs dont make excuses and they never will. just to bad we could not get it back home. i think jackson and kobe knew if it went back to SA the lakers would not win the series so they took out all the stops, like kobe did not rest in the second half at all.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:25 am
Big Freeze says:
speakin of Kobe, he is solidifying himself as the best player. ever.
i used to be a kobe hater after he anal-banged that hotel chick, but now i realize just cuz he sodomizes women, it doesn’t mean he isn’t the most skilled and clutch player i’ve seen since jordan. i’m actually starting to think he is better than jordan if he wins a few more rings over the next decade.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:27 am
Rafa23 says:
@Ranger:
what does not that say about amare when a guy labeld as soft is better than him on defense…
you’re right, gasol got outplayed,but it was vs. tim duncan. watching it, you just realize how great this guy is on defense. gasol isn’t great, but he is good, that’s all they need.
respect to the spurs, no excuses, calling the lakers the better team and just moving on. they know they will be back…
May 30th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Bone says:
Interesting fact - the Vegas line on this game was Lakers, -7 1/2…Vujacic’s three at the end means the Lakers convieniently covered the spread, winning by 8 and the officials didn’t even review the three…coincidence?
May 30th, 2008 at 12:32 am
Ding Dong the Knicks are Dead says:
rangerjohn
i think that jackson and kobe just believed they should play to win. Not lose huge early leads twice in the same series (pretty much the same way ala kobe). The fact you are a homer doesn’t mean you get to disrespect other people.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:34 am
Big Freeze says:
@ Bone
I was saying the same shit after he drained that last second three (which was fucked up by the way). I was thinkin how thousands schmucks across the country who bet under the spread just lost their gas money for the month. I swear I heard the collective sound of wives across the country getting beat by their drunk, gambling husbands who lost after that fucked-up shot by “the machine.”
May 30th, 2008 at 12:45 am
JoeGym says:
LOL at Big Free. lost their goddamn gas money, yeah that was BS but I wouldnt be surprised if a few refs left their seat as he let that fly…and maybe charles too
May 30th, 2008 at 12:54 am
nate says:
if u think that no other teams fans would boo in the same situation you are mistaken, the lakers are the most hated team in the league thas why you get beat LA chants everywhere
May 30th, 2008 at 12:56 am
hahns says:
GOAT
May 30th, 2008 at 1:01 am
G says:
Kobe proves why he is the greatest all time. Bring on the minor leagues of the NBA A.K.A. the Eastern Conference.
p.s. wonder if Bowen still thinks he’s the Kobe stopper
May 30th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Matt S says:
Fuck Sasha Vujacic, fucking foreigner busts the spread, only a foreigner.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:22 am
nate says:
i wont say hes a “Kobe Stopper” but he did as good a job I have seen, not counting the points but makin kobe work for his points. *as good a job i have seen not counting battier’ s face guarding session*
May 30th, 2008 at 1:23 am
Matt S says:
I’d like to stick a basketball up his foreign ass. Guys a faggot.
May 30th, 2008 at 2:32 am
w says:
@ Ranger John
As a laker fan it was kind of emberassing seeing the fans at the game boo the Spurs. But i doubt fans from any other arena would have done anything different. Great response to Kally’s comment about SA fans chanting horry when West went down… Every single comment you posted seems like something a hater would post. Way to stay classy yourself. LMAO
May 30th, 2008 at 2:40 am
Three Stacks says:
Looks like someone lost some money cause of the last second shot.
Lamar’s son was an infant, less than a year old.
As proven by the Spurs series, we don’t need Pau to get loads of buckets to win against a good defensive team.
rangerjohn, I KNOW you’re not saying Perkins is as good defensively as Duncan is. You really expect the same kind of production? Give your boy more credit than that.
Doesn’t matter if Lamar can’t handle KG, dude doesn’t bang in the post anyhow. KG’s gonna get his 20 footers, always will.
Listen, Laker fans hate the Spurs. We’re not gonna cheer for them, no matter what. You should take it as a point of pride, the Spurs are the team that effectively killed our run as a mini-dynasty. It’s just the lingering effect is all.
May 30th, 2008 at 7:39 am
hahns says:
matt s
so wanting to push a basketball up a guys butt doenst make you a faggot? wait, why am i defending vujicic…im confused.
btw, anyone hear sir charles BUTCHER his name in the post game?
May 30th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
DTUCK says:
Pau is weak at times, I must admit. I’m still glad to have him opposed to Kwame. When we get that other guy back(BYNUM) he’s going to look 10x better. The league is in trouble now, because this is suppossed to be our vulnerable time. I love the Lakers(diehard), but have the utmost respct for the Spurs. I thought Duncan had lost a step, but he clearly hasn’t. Once you guys get younger, you’ll be alright. I still don’t see you guys beating us though, Bynum gives Duncan fits. With Bynum, Gasol, L.O. in the paint, he’s gonna be having nightmares. Not hating on Tim though, because so will all others. We don’t care who we play in the Finals, but it would be classic to see the Celtics. Be Easy