Lakers punch title ticket
L.A. beats
San Antonio 100-94
Friday, May 30, 2008 11:36 AM PDT
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| Kevork Djansezian | Associated Press
Los Angeles Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (left) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs’ Tim Duncan in the third quarter of Game 5 of the NBA Western Conference finals at Staples Center in Los Angeles, Thursday. Bryant scored a game-high 39 points, and the Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals, after defeating the Spurs, 100-92. |
LOS ANGELES (AP) — It was exactly a year ago that Kobe Bryant demanded a trade, ultimately saying he’d prefer playing on Pluto rather than return to the Los Angeles Lakers.
But the Lakers kept him, and all parties are delighted with how things worked out.
Bryant scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs 100-92 on Thursday night and win the Western Conference finals in five games.
The Lakers get a week off before opening the NBA finals next Thursday night at Boston or Detroit. The Celtics led the Pistons 3-2 in the Eastern Conference finals entering Game 6 on Friday night.
‘‘Feels great,’’ Bryant said. ‘‘I think it started for us in training camp, when there was a lot of talk swirling around. We were always together, eating together, on the bus, joking around together. We built that unity from the first day and we carried that on throughout the season.’’
Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal teamed up to lead the Lakers to three straight championships starting in 2000, but O’Neal was traded a month after they lost to the Pistons in the 2004 NBA finals. The Lakers didn’t win another playoff series since until last month, and that drought was the genesis of Bryant’s anger last spring.
But the improvement of several young players and the acquisition of Pau Gasol from Memphis four months ago made a huge difference.
