The L.A. Lakers earned their 15th title on Sunday night as Kobe Bryant scored 30 points and Pau Gasol added 14 and 15 rebounds in a (99 - 86) Game 5 win over the Orlando Magic, who ran out of comebacks. Bryant's seven-year chase of a coveted championship is finally over. He got his fourth title, and Phil Jackson his record 10th. One year after failing in the finals, Bryant and the Lakers have redemption, and all the rewards that go with it. His fourth championship secured a strong case can be made for Bryant being the league's best player since Michael Jordan hung up his sneakers. Bryant, who averaged 32.4 points and was named finals MVP, said the can-he-win-without-Shaq talk annoyed him.
Jackson, the chilled-out, bow-legged Zen Master who won six league titles in the 1990s with Jordan in Chicago, now has won four with Los Angeles and broke a tie with legendary Boston coach Red Auerbach as the winningest coach in finals history. Bryant and Jackson, whose relationship strained and briefly snapped under the weight of success, are again at the top of their games. Jackson, who once called Bryant "a selfish player'' now sees the 30-year-old in a far different light.
After losing Game 1 by 25 points, the Magic had their chance in Game 2 but rookie Courtney Lee missed an alley-oop layup in the final second of regulation. In Game 4, Dwight Howard clanged two free throws with 11.1 seconds, and the Magic allowed Derek Fisher to nail a game-tying 3-pointer to force OT. Howard, the Magic's superhero center, was hardly a factor in Game 5. He scored 11 points, took just nine shots and never got a chance to get going. Rashard Lewis scored 18 points, but was only 3 of 12 on 3s for Orlando, which after living on the 3, finally died by it. The Magic went just 8 of 27 from long range.
The Lakers were anything but The Kobe Show.
Jackson, the chilled-out, bow-legged Zen Master who won six league titles in the 1990s with Jordan in Chicago, now has won four with Los Angeles and broke a tie with legendary Boston coach Red Auerbach as the winningest coach in finals history. Bryant and Jackson, whose relationship strained and briefly snapped under the weight of success, are again at the top of their games. Jackson, who once called Bryant "a selfish player'' now sees the 30-year-old in a far different light.
After losing Game 1 by 25 points, the Magic had their chance in Game 2 but rookie Courtney Lee missed an alley-oop layup in the final second of regulation. In Game 4, Dwight Howard clanged two free throws with 11.1 seconds, and the Magic allowed Derek Fisher to nail a game-tying 3-pointer to force OT. Howard, the Magic's superhero center, was hardly a factor in Game 5. He scored 11 points, took just nine shots and never got a chance to get going. Rashard Lewis scored 18 points, but was only 3 of 12 on 3s for Orlando, which after living on the 3, finally died by it. The Magic went just 8 of 27 from long range.
The Lakers were anything but The Kobe Show.
