The Basketball Diaries

Los Angeles Lakers 97* San Antonio Spurs 92 (Lakers win series 4-1)

You know, this was supposed to be a seven-game series, but I guess there was just no way anybody was going to keep Kobe Bryant out of the Finals in his MVP season. Kobe did the same thing he did all season for the Lakers last night, helping Los Angeles come back from an early 17-point deficit, and finishing things off in the fourth quarter.

Kobe scored 39 points, 17 in the fourth, and helped the Lakers stay a perfect 8-0 at home this postseason.

"I think it is a tremendous accomplishment," Bryant said. "I think the West is extremely tough. We're all extremely excited and proud about it. Now, it's time to go on and see if we can't finish it off."

Of course, good as he is, Kobe wasn't the only Laker on the court last night. Pau Gasol filled up the stat sheet, scoring 12 points, handing out five assists, swatting four shots, and pulling down a career-high 19 rebounds. Lamar Odom had 13 points and eight rebounds as well.

The Lakers now await the winner of the Eastern Conference Finals, which will be the Celtics, so the NBA will get the dream matchup it's been angling for all season long. I don't know if it's much of a dream matchup for LA though, as they lost both their meetings with Boston this season, losing by an average score of 108-92.

*The official score is 100-92 Lakers, but I'm not counting that bush league bullshit three Sasha Vujacic hit at the buzzer. I can't stand that guy, and this is just another reason why.