Results tagged “nbafinals”

From the lows of that 131-92 game at Staples Center against the Boston Celtics a year ago, the Lakers defeated the Orlando Magic 99-86. This is the franchise's 15th championship and head coach Phil Jackson's 10th to surpass Red Auerbach. Kobe Bryant won the NBA Finals MVP for the first time. Comment away.

Here is the liveblog of Game 5 of the NBA. I assure you the Lakers will bring home the championship tonight.

The Orlando Magic are done. We all witnessed it Thursday night and saw them make many boneheaded plays in the last 30 seconds of regulation in Game 4 to cost them the game. Let’s break it down.

It took some scratching and clawing, but the Lakers defeated the Magic in overtime 99-91. The Lakers were off kilter to start off the game allowing Magic center Dwight Howard to grab 11 first quarter rebounds. Also all the Lakers bigs were in foul trouble at one point forcing the Lakers to play DJ Mbenga and Josh Powell. Thanks to Magic turnovers the Lakers were down by only four points despite not being able to shoot and. It would get worse for the Lakers in the second quarter where they couldn't defend worth squat and would trail at halftime by twelve.

After Game 1, I said that the Magic's outside shooters would not miss all of those shots again. Well the Lakers survived the Magic's improved shooting in Game 2 101-96 in overtime. After being non-factors in Game 1 Rashard Lewis and Hedu Turkoglu showed up in Game 2 knocking down 34 points and 17 points respectively. Lewis knocked down six three-pointers in the Magic's effort to steal one game on LA's home court. The effort would come up short.

LA Lakers defeat Orlando Magic 100-75. This certainly was not what I had in mind coming into this NBA Finals. The Lakers were led by Kobe Bryant scoring 40 points and getting eight rebounds and eight assists. This was the first time Kobe has scored 40 or more in the NBA Finals in his career. The game started out with both teams feeling each other out in the first quarter. The Magic took a five point lead at the end of the quarter. But in the second quarter despite surprisingly good play by Jameer Nelson, the Lakers started to pull away taking a 10 point lead into the half.

There's a reason it's taken me this long to talk about the NBA Finals. I have no idea how this will play out. When I made the proclamation last week that the Magic would win in five games if they faced the Lakers in the Finals, the Lakers didn't look to hot. They were in the middle of feeling out the Denver Nuggets tying the series two games a piece. But the Lakers brought down the hammer capped with a 27-point victory in the decisive Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals, and everything changed right there.

Every Summer the number of outdoor concerts increase significantly. Why not? It's beautiful outside. In Marina Del Rey, they hold classical and popular concerts every Thursday and Saturday. This Thursday we have the opening ceremonies including two pre-concert events Trooping the Colors and a Water Show on the main channel. The highlight of this concert is USC professor Marek Szpakiewicz performing the Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor. According to our all-powerful all-knowing editor, "you'll be hooked within seconds."

This has been a very difficult post to write. The completely embarrassing game six that ended the Laker’s season was just very hard to stomach and left a lot of questions.

It's over, and I don't think I've felt sicker than I do now. 131-92. And to the fucking Celtics.

One of the first things to remember about the Lakers is to expect the unexpected.

In a game that was almost a carbon copy of game four, the Lakers escaped with a 103-98 victory. The Lakers started the game in sync again ending the first quarter with a 17-point lead. The Celtics came storming back in the second quarter with a 15-0 run going into the locker room at the half with a three-point deficit.

As much as the Celtics ripped the Lakers the other day, deep down inside I still have some hope for the Lakers to pull it out.

Gutless. Pathetic. Pitiful. Sorry. And that’s being generous to the Lakers.

Ask any science teacher: the longest measurable unit of time is no longer the baseball season -- it's the final two minutes of a close basketball game.

It’s been a long time since a winning team of an NBA Final’s game looked like a team destined to lose the series.

People around the city are bemoaning about the horrible job the referees are doing in the NBA Finals. One of the more outrageous conspiracy theories involves the refs deliberately calling the game against the Lakers so that the series would go a full seven games.

It’s here. After waiting for a week the NBA Finals start tonight in Boston and with it a heralded rivalry is renewed.

It’s funny how things can change in the NBA Playoffs in the span of a month.

To all the loyal Kobe supporters / LAist readers who commented on the Top Ten Reasons LeBron is better than Kobe: First of all, I'm impressed that 25 people care enough about Kobe Bryant to bother defending him. I love that several of the comments were longer than the original post. I should also say that LeBron did disappoint last night, and it's true Kobe won a ring in his first trip to the...

In honor of Game 4 of the NBA Finals (yes, they're still going on, L.A., even if you didn't notice once your Lakers wilted in the first round), a little love for The King. Please note: I said Top Ten because there are probably thousands of reasons, but I only have time and space for ten here. 10. Nicknames. Bron-Bron, King James, LBJ, The Chosen One, Video Game James. What does Kobe have? One word,...

Will Cleveland complete a giant turnaround on the shoulders of LeBron James? Will San Antonio continue their NBA legacy with another championship? We don't have a stinkin' clue, but if you make the best prediction LAist will give you a box of 2006-2007 Topps Full Court Basketball Cards. The box contains 108 cards, including two relic cards and one that's been autographed by two different NBA stars. If you haven't heard, it seems like everybody...

Every morning at 6am we will be posting a video of someone singing or playing the "Star Spangled Banner". Back in the day television stations would end their "broadcast day" with an instrumental of the National Anthem accompanied by images of dandelions blowing in the wind, of flags being held by children, and olde fashioned barbers using leeches on alleged witches. When the song was over, the screen would flicker and a test pattern...

Mavericks 114, Lakers 95 - Coming into the game, Dallas had won 18 of their last 19. The loss? Lakers. The revenge? Resounding. The Mavericks were up by as many as 28 and got double digit performances from six players. They did just about everything, including performing the national anthem before the game. Dallas is midway through the season and holds the best record in the league. They look to exact more revenge on Sunday...

Current Record: 2-1, T-2nd Pacific

See, this is why we only email trusted friends, and trust no one. The other day AP reported that Britney and KFed want to bring their new offspring into the world at the pregnant-celeb-friendly Namibia (know your customer), and the next day they tell us it could have been a hoax.

This... this was a nightmare on epic levels. The carriage turned back to a pumpkin... The Dream that was to be the "Hallway Series" has been dashed by the Phoenix Suns. Now mind you LAist (and all of the remaining Laker fans) are not so upset that they blew three straight chances to close out. Ok that was a lie, we are INSANELY UPSET at that but also at HOW they went out in the seventh game. A complete beatdown, blowout, behind-the-woodshed-from-your-momma beating like you stole something that was not worthy of the great series.

"I'm very excited about my new agreement with the Heat," O'Neal said. "This contract allows me to address all of my family's long-term financial goals while allowing the Heat the ability to acquire those players that we need to win a championship."

As Phil Jackson prepares for an interview during tonight's broadcast of the NBA Finals, Peter Vecsey of the New York Post is reporting that the Lakers are considering Brian Shaw as their next head coach.

The Lakers aren't in the playoffs.