Lakers unseat Spurs, advance to finals
LOS ANGELES – Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers dispatched the defending champions, and now they’re headed to the NBA finals for the first time in four years.
Bryant scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, and the Lakers rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat the San Antonio Spurs 100-92 on Thursday night and win the Western Conference finals in five games.
The Lakers are 12-3 in this year’s playoffs, including 8-0 at Staples Center, where they haven’t lost in two months. They’ve won 14 straight home games and 21 of their last 24 postseason games at home.
They get a week off before opening the NBA finals next Thursday night at Boston or Detroit. The Celtics lead the Eastern Conference finals 3-2 with Game 6 tonight in Detroit.
A basket by Lamar Odom gave the Lakers an 83-76 lead with 5:40 remaining, but a 3-pointer by Brent Barry and a basket by Tony Parker drew the Spurs within two points. Manu Ginobili missed a 3-pointer that could have given San Antonio the lead before Bryant’s jumper with 3:33 to play made it 85-81.
A foul shot by Tim Duncan drew the Spurs within three, but two more baskets by Bryant made it 89-82 with 1:47 to play, and the Spurs weren’t closer than five points after that.
Odom added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Pau Gasol had 12 points, a career playoff-high 19 rebounds and five assists for the Lakers.
Parker scored 23 points and Duncan had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for the Spurs. Michael Finley scored 13 points, Barry and Kurt Thomas added 11 each and Ginobili was held to nine, shooting just 3 for 9.
Former Lakers star and executive Jerry West presented the Lakers the Western Conference championship trophy on the court following the game. By that time, the players were all wearing T-shirts and caps denoting their championship status.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson has won nine championships, tied for the NBA record with former Boston coach Red Auerbach.
“I like not to get involved personally in this and think of this as a team effort,” he said regarding what playing in the NBA finals means to him. “As much as I appreciate the league trying to emphasize the Western Conference trophy, that doesn’t mean too much when that big prize is still out there.
“We look at both those opponents (Boston and Detroit) with a great deal of respect and know that we have a great, great hill to climb to be able to finish in the finals and win.”
The Lakers will be playing in the finals for the 23rd time since moving from Minneapolis to Los Angeles in 1961 and the 29th time overall. They have won 14 championships – nine in Los Angeles and five in Minneapolis.
The Lakers and the Celtics have met 10 times in the finals, with Boston winning the first eight matchups and Los Angeles the last two – in 1985 and 1987. That’s the last time the Celtics advanced to the championship round.
The Lakers and Pistons have met three times in the finals, most recently in 2004, when Detroit won in five games. Shaquille O’Neal, who teamed with Bryant to lead the Lakers to three straight championships starting in 2000, was traded a month later, and the Lakers hadn’t won a postseason series since until last month.
San Antonio’s elimination might signal the end of its era of dominance. With Duncan leading the way, the Spurs won championships in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007, but with a rotation made up solely of 30-something players except for the 26-year-old Parker, the future seems uncertain.
Meanwhile, starting guard Derek Fisher and seldom-used reserve Ira Newble are the only players on the Los Angeles roster over 30.
The Spurs led by as many as 10 points early in the third quarter, but the Lakers turned up their defensive intensity during a 19-8 run that gave them a 61-60 lead – their first since the opening minute. Bryant scored nine points during the spurt. Los Angeles led 64-63 entering the final period.
The Lakers wound up shooting 38 for 85 (44.7 percent). The Spurs went 36 for 74 (48.6 percent).