The Los Angeles Lakers took six years off from their last championship but their latest is well deserved, as they beat the Orlando Magic in game five to secure their 15th NBA championship by the score of 99-86.
Kobe Bryant put in an MVP performance with 30 points, six rebounds, five assists and four blocks. It seems to me that the Lake-Show is back and stronger than ever. The Lakers gained control in the third quarter with shots from Kobe, Trevor Ariza, and Derek Fisher. They never looked back from that moment to seize control of the championship.
The Orlando Magic jumped out to an early 1st quarter lead but never looked like they had recovered from game four’s misfortunes (where they blew a 4th quarter lead) or the many other opportunities they had in this series to lead or pull even with the Lakers.
Lakers head coach Phil Jackson passed Celtics great Red Auerbach for the most titles won by a head coach with 10. This puts him in the argument for the greatest head coach of all time and rightfully so. Jackson did a masterful job at stopping Dwight Howard and shutting down Orlando in key moments of this series. Jackson's grace under pressure proved why he might be the greatest coach in sports history at calming his players down and pushing the right buttons at the right moments.
However, the real story of this series was Kobe Bryant’s return to grace and he certainly proved that he is the best player in the NBA, bar-none. The Lakers look to be the early favorites next year to repeat, but for now they should be happy that they are back on the top of the mountain and in the NBA’s promiseland.
Hooray for Hollywood, The Lakers are 2009 NBA champs
