The Los Angeles Lakers have made the NBA Finals for the very first time after beating the 2007 champs the San Antonio Spurs 100-92, winning a best-of-seven series 4-1. Kobe Bryant was the star of the night, scoring 36 points as the Lakers came back from a 17 point deficit to take home an eight point victory.
Pau Gasol contributed with a 12 points and 19 rebounds while Lamar Odom got 13 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, who will play the winner of the Celtics/Pistons series, which currently has Boston leading 3-2. Game six is in Detroit tonight. Tony Parker was the top scorer for the Spurs with 23 points, while Tim Duncan added 19. However, these were the only scorers of note as the Spurs sputtered towards the end.
The Los Angeles Lakers are just one win away from the NBA Finals after sending the San Antonio Spurs to their first home loss of the playoffs. Kobe Bryant collected 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed once last night and kept it up for a 93-91 victory. Brent Barry missed a contested 3-pointer for the Spurs as time expired. The Lakers have a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals and can advance to the NBA Finals against Boston or Detroit with a home win against the defending champion in Game 5 tomorrow. Tim Duncan had 29 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Spurs, while Tony Parker and Barry took 23 points each. Manu Ginobili, after scoring 30 points in San Antonio’s Game 3 win, was held to 7 points on 2-of-8 shooting.The Lakers have a 7-0 record at the Staples Center during the postseason and hasn’t lost at home in two months.
The Celtics host the Pistons tonight in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals. The teams are tied at two games apiece. Boston is 9-1 at home and 1-7 on the road in this year’s playoffs. Boston has survived two big close calls in the first round and semifinals. They knocked out the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in seven games in the quarterfinals and hung on to defeat LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in an even closer seven-game series. There’s a lot of playoff history between these two teams. Boston defeated the Pistons in the 1968, 1985 and 2002 semis, and also knocked out Detroit in seven games in the 1987 East finals.
1. Derrick Rose 6-3 PG Memphis Stock Up
The best pure point guard in the draft could push for the No. 1 overall pick.
2. Michael Beasley 6-10 PF Kansas State Stock Down
Best outside-inside talent in the draft. A lock for the No. 1 or No. 2 pick if character questions check out.
3. O.J. Mayo 6-4 SG USC Stock Up
It’s clear Mayo’s going to be a great NBA scorer … but will he give a team anything else?
4. Jerryd Bayless 6-3 PG Arizona Stock Up
Athletic combo guard is putting up big numbers as a freshman at Arizona.
5. Danilo Gallinari 6-9 SF Italy Stock Up
Many in Italy feel he’s a better long-term prospect than Andrea Bargnani — think an Italian Toni Kukoc.
6. Anthony Randolph 6-11 PF LSU Stock Down
Long, athletic big man reminds some scouts of Chris Bosh.
7. Brook Lopez 7-0 C Stanford Stock Down
A big, athletic center who produced big numbers in the Pac-10.
8. Eric Gordon 6-4 SG Indiana Stock Down
Do-it-all combo guard has a chance to be a bigger, better version of Ben Gordon.
9. D.J. Augustin 6-0 PG Texas Stock Down
Spunky point guard has a game that resembles that of Steve Nash.
10. Russell Westbrook 6-3 PG UCLA Stock Down
Athletic combo guard seems to have the tools to be a star … but are they refined enough?
Regardless of the fact that the Detroit Pistons missed 64 percent of their shots and had a rookie filling in for an All-Star point guard, they still managed to set an NBA playoff record with just three turnovers and make enough shots to advance to their sixth straight Eastern Conference final with a 91-86 win Tuesday night over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the second-round series.
The Pistons are the first franchise to play in six conference finals in a row since the Los Angeles Lakers went to eight straight in the 1980s.
The Pistons will have a break before facing the Boston Celtics or Cleveland Cavaliers and that will help Chauncey Billups , who missed two straight games with an injured right hammy.
Kobe Bryant has been selected the NBA’s most valuable player for the first time in his 12-year career, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday.
Bryant has won three championships with the Los Angeles Lakers and is considered the league’s best talent. But he had never come close to winning an MVP before this season.
Kobe averaged 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.4 assists in the regular season. Also, he led the Lakers to a 57-25 record and the top seed in the Western Conference.
Bryant, second in the NBA in scoring behind LeBron James, will be the first Lakers player to win the MVP award since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000. Other previous Lakers to win the award were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, who each won it three times.
The decision is the first but probably not the last of what’s likely to a major shakeup for the franchise in the off season. The league’s highest payroll produced a second straight first-round knockout from the playoffs. Avery Johnson leaves Wednesday with an decent resume after three-plus seasons, but Mavericks owner Mark Cuban could only see the bottom line of being 3-12 in the playoffs since blowing a 2-0 lead in the 2006 NBA finals.
