Throughout this series, I've thought the winner would have to do two things: shoot better from the field and play great defense.
Last night, the Lakers took more shots than the Spurs--85 to 74. Going into the final quarter, the Lakers held a razor-thin 64-63 lead over the Spurs.
But then Kobe Bryant took over, scoring 17 of his 39 points in the final quarter. The Lakers, who'd trailed the Spurs earlier in the game by as much as 17 points (sound familiar?), rallied to win 100-92.
Los Angeles moves on to take on either the Boston Celtics or Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals while the Spurs go home to contemplate. Tim Duncan might make a few more H-E-B pre-cooked meat commercials while head coach Gregg Popovich will undoubtedly evaluate the team's needs and get ready for next season.
Looking at the news reports, the Spurs were insistent that the better team won. Wow. Sounds like San Antonio has class to equal its four NBA titles.
As for the NBA Finals, right now, I don't see the Celtics or Pistons sufficiently matching up against the Lakers. I think Los Angeles will win it in five games.
Keywords: Celtics, Kobe Bryant, Lakers, Pistons, Spurs
