The Spurs were in command again in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals--an elimination game. The Spurs had to win this game in order to stay alive in the hunt for their title repeat.
Sure there were shadows of doubt in their minds about their victory; the Spurs had a 20 point lead in Game 1 in Los Angeles and lost it, but San Antonio's super starters felt confident.
They were wrong.
The Spurs lost the game 100-92 fueled by Kobe Bryant's 17 4th quarter point.
The Lakers are the Western Conference Champions; bring on the East.
In everyone's mind the Lakers are favorites to win the NBA Finals, something Kobe has not done since Shaq was there in LA. Regardless of the Eastern opponent, the Lakers will win the 2008 Championship, and Kobe will be one trophy closer to Michael Jordan's status as the greatest player to every play professional basketball.
If Kobe wins the Finals MVP and the Gold in this Summer's Olympic games Kobe will be able to tie MJ's dominance.
But Kobe will never surpass Michael.
Although I was never to watch dear ol' Mr. 23 I know that he could not be stopped in any way shape or form. He was dominant in every aspect. Some may argue that Kobe was also, but one crucial difference hinders Bryant from ever becoming "His Air-ness," and that is his alleged rape and sexual assault trial.
Kobe has been able to bounce back exponentially from that controversy, but in the minds of many Kobe will always have that spot on his record, something that MJ did not have.
Moving on to the NBA Finals preview leads us to the Eastern Conference Finals where Boston leads Detroit 3 games to 2.
Game 6 is tonight in Detroit, and considering that the Pistons are 5-0 following a playoff loss this postseason, the Pistons will win this game.
Which means that the experts were wrong.
The experts predicted that the West would beat up on each other so much that the Celtics with their easy road to the Finals would be able to easily win over the West.
The exact opposite is true. The Lakers have had an easy road to the Finals whereas the Celtics have played all of their playoff series to 7, and the Celtics will win the Eastern Finals series in seven also.
With this fact in mind, I would not be surprised if LA beat the Celtics is 4 or 5 games.
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