The Los Angeles Lakers held off the Boston Celtics in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, 87-81, behind a great performance by Kobe Bryant.  Boston now leads the series 2-1.  Kobe made two crucial baskets late in the game to seal the game for the Lakers.  He finished the game with 36 points (12-20 FGM/A), 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 assist.  The only other Laker player to show up for Game 3 was Sasha “The Machine” Vujacic.  Sasha came off the bench to score 20 points, making 3 of 5 from behind the three-point line. 

No other Laker player came to play Tuesday night.  Starters Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, and Vladimir Radmanovic combined for a total of 22 points.  What happened to Pau?  He looks like a Kwame Brown in the making; playing extremely soft and afraid of contact, fumbling passes, going soft to the basket, missing free throws, etc.  He needs to man up and get tougher in the paint, both on defense and offense.  As for Lamar, he has disappeared and so has his game.  Stop getting in foul trouble and play some D.  The same goes for Vlad. 

The Lakers were lucky to get the W in Game 3.  As bad as they all played, minus Kobe and Sasha, they should’ve really lost that game.  I supposed it helped that Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce also didn’t show up to play.  However, don’t expect this to continue in Game 4 on Thursday night.  Garnett and Pierce will bring their A game.

Game 3 highlights to come soon. 

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Game 1 of the 2008 NBA Finals tips off tonight in Boston.  The Lakers look to steal a game (or two) on the road and head back to Los Angeles with games 3, 4, and 5 at Staples Center.  Many experts pick the Lakers to win the series in 6-7 games mainly due to their experience.  However, if Kobe can “just be Kobe” and help get his teammates involved early, the Lakers can win the series in 5.  They have proven in each of their previous three series’ that they can win on the road in hostile environments. 

Game 2 of the NBA Finals is on Sunday, June 8, 2008, at 6:00PM PST.  See complete series schedule below. 

The Kobe Collection’s prediction?  Lakers in 5!

Beat them C’s!  Go Lakers!!!

2008 NBA Finals Schedule:

Gm. 1: Thursday, June 5 (8:30 p.m. ET) - LAL at BOS
Gm. 2: Sunday, June 8 (8:30 p.m. ET) - LAL at BOS
Gm. 3: Tuesday, June 10 (8:30 p.m. ET) - BOS at LAL
Gm. 4: Thursday, June 12 (8:30 p.m. ET) - BOS at LAL
Gm. 5: *Sunday, June 15 (8:30 p.m. ET) - BOS at LAL
Gm. 6: *Tuesday, June 17 (8:30 p.m. ET) - LAL at BOS
Gm. 7: *Thursday, June 19 (8:30 p.m. ET) - LAL at BOS

* If necessary

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What a win for the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals!  After a dismal 2 and a half quarters against the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night, where the Lakers trailed by as many as 20 points, Kobe and company came to play towards the end of the third quarter and into the fourth.  At one point, the Lakers scored 14 straight points in a span of 3:05 to only trail by 6.  Heading into the fourth quarter, the Lakers were only down 7 as Kobe went to work.  He scored 25 of his 27 points in the second half, including a game-winning 10-foot jumper with 23.9 seconds left.  The Lakers defended the Spurs’ final three-point attempt and secured the rebound, where Sasha Vujacic was fouled and converted both free-throws.  The Lakers won the game 89-85, and now lead the series 1-0. 

To be honest, I didn’t expect the Lakers to be able to pull this one out, especially after being down 20.  Kobe’s passive first-half was not a concern as we all knew he would go to work when he chose to.  What was disappointing were the plays of Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom.  Both had great series’ versus the Utah Jazz but were pretty non-existent in Game 1 against the Spurs.  Lets hope both players shake off their rust and come ready to play on Friday in Game 2.  Other players who struggled were Ronny Turiaf and Luke Walton.  On the other hand, Vladimir Radmanovic, Jordan Farmar, and Sasha Vujacic all played well.  They combined for a total of 28 of the Lakers’ 89 points. 

Nonetheless, an impressive come-from-behind win by a young Lakers team. 

Checkout the highlights here. 

Game 2 is Friday at 6:00PM PST on TNT. 

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After eliminating the Utah Jazz last Friday night in the Conference Semifinals, the Los Angeles Lakers now know who they will be facing in the Western Conference Finals - the defending world champs, San Antonio Spurs.  The Spurs defeated the New Orleans Hornets last night in Game 7 of their series, 91-82, to advance to the Conference Finals.

Both the Lakers and Spurs have dominated the past 10 years in the NBA, combining for a total of 7 of the last 10 championships.  The Lakers won three straight from 2000-2002 while the Spurs won four, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2007, but never consecutively.  Now they face off against one another for a shot at either the Boston Celtics or Detroit Pistons in the NBA Finals.  Game 1 tips off Wednesday night in Los Angeles at 6:00PM (see complete schedule below). 

During the regular season, the Lakers and Spurs split their season series, 2-2, each team winning on their respective home courts.  However, during the last week of the regular season, the new-look Lakers won the final matchup between the two teams by 21 points. 

Complete Series Schedule:
Gm. 1:Wed., May 21: at Los Angeles, 9 p.m. ET (TNT)
Gm. 2:Fri., May 23: at Los Angeles, 9 p.m. ET (TNT)
Gm. 3:Sun., May 25: at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. ET (TNT)
Gm. 4:Tue., May 27: at San Antonio, 9 p.m. ET (TNT)
Gm. 5*:Thu., May 29: at Los Angeles, 9 p.m. ET (TNT)
Gm. 6*:Sat., May 31: at San Antonio, 8:30 p.m. ET (TNT)
Gm. 7*:Mon., June 2: at Los Angeles, 9 p.m. ET (TNT)

* if necessary

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After watching several Lakers-Jazz games this season, where Jazz fans crossed the line in showing their displeasure for Derek Fisher (a former Jazz player), I immediately lost respect for these people from Utah.  They are not only rude and immature, but extremely classless as well.  They’re definitely right up there with Philadelphia fans.  Alex Kennedy of The Bleacher Report recently wrote a nice column titled “Utah Jazz: The Most Disgusting Fans in the NBA” where he provides a number of occasions where Jazz fans crossed the line in taunting players from opposing teams.  One fan points out:

“Being an avid baseball fan, I’ve seen syringes being thrown on the field. Being an avid Lakers fan, I’ve seen signs made about Kobe being a rapist. That’s fine, but when you bring up something that Fisher had no control over and make a joke out of it, it’s disgusting. The Utah Jazz organization needs to come out and release an official apology to the family of Derek Fisher.”

The same fan goes on to say:

“It would bring ultimate satisfaction to close this series up in Utah and shove it up the crowd’s ass, I’ve got respect for the Jazz players, but the crowd has absolutely no respect from me.  I would give almost anything to end this series in Game 6 with a purple-and-gold ass-whopping.”

The Lakers, indeed, did “shove it up the crowd’s ass” and closed out the series in Utah in “ass-whopping” fashion.  They tried to do all they could to get in the heads of players and referees but to no avail.  Checkout this video of fans chanting “Ref you suck!” just before the half ended, where Deron Williams fouled Derek Fisher shooting a three-pointer…Fish made all three free-throws to shut the crowd up and head into halftime up 19! 

Utah Jazz fans, YOU suck!

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The Utah Jazz’s season has ended and Jerry Sloan, Deron Williams, Mehmet Okur, Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Boozer and company have all gone fishing.  Thanks to Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, of course.  The Lakers defeated the Jazz in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals 108-105, becoming only the second team in Round 2 to win a game on the road.  The Lakers are now 8-2 in this year’s Playoffs and now advance to the Western Conference Finals for this first time since 2004, where they will face either the New Orleans Hornets or San Antonio Spurs. 

Checkout highlights from Game 6 here. 

Photo above courtesy of Jsahmad of KB24.com

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To say that Kobe has had a wonderful season would be an understatement.  In addition to leading the Lakers to the top of the West, Kobe has been recognized for many in-season as well as post-season awards.  Just recently, Kobe was named Most-Valuable Player for the 2007-08 NBA season, an award that has eluded him for many years now.  Other accolades include Player of the Week, Player of the Month, All-NBA First Team, and NBA All-Defensive First Team.  And if it weren’t for Kobe’s finger injury that limited him to just a few minutes, he would’ve probably won the All-Star Game MVP as well. 

The perfect ending to a great season would be to advance to the NBA Finals and win a 4th Championship.  Things were looking bright for Kobe and the Lakers until the Lakers dropped two straight in Utah this past weekend.  The series is now tied 2-2 heading back to LA for Game 5 on Wednesday.  The Lakers must win this game to have a chance of a Game 7 in LA, if needed.  Going into Utah down 3-2 would be a huge disadvantage for a young Laker team.  Utah is nearly unbeatable at home this season.  If the Lakers can win Game 5, they’ll have two shots at closing out the series.  If they do, they’ll face either the San Antonio Spurs or New Orleans Hornets (series tied 2-2) in the Western Conference Finals. 

The results for the 2007-08 NBA All-Defensive First Team:

2007-08 NBA ALL-DEFENSIVE FIRST TEAM

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The Kobe Collection Blog congratulates Kobe for winning his first-ever NBA MVP Award.  It was long overdue and well deserved.  Kobe led the Lakers to a 57-25 record while averaging 28.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.4 apg, and 1.84 spg.  The Lakers finished the season with the best record in the Western Conference and currently lead the Utah Jazz 2-0 in Round 2 of the Playoffs. 

Kobe was given the MVP trophy last night before Game 2 versus the Jazz.  Shortly after receiving the trophy, Kobe signaled for his teammates to join him at center court where he genuinely addressed the Laker fans “I love you guys so much.  It’s been 11-12 years.  We still got many more years to go.  We’re going to play until June.  I love you, now let’s get this party started!” 

If you missed the pre-game MVP ceremony, check it out here. 

Kobe received 82-first-place votes and 1,105 points in the media vote.  He was followed by New Orleans’ Chris Paul (28 and 889), Boston’s Kevin Garnett (15 and 670) and Cleveland’s LeBron James (1 and 438).

On another note, Kobe was selected to the All-NBA First Team today along with Chris Paul, LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Kevin Garnett.  Kobe was the only unanimous selection to the All-NBA team.  This is Kobe’s third straight selection to the All-NBA Team and his fifth in his career. 

Congratulations, KB24, for all your recent success and awards!

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Round 2 of the 2008 NBA Playoffs are all but set.  The Lakers will face the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference Semifinals on Sunday, May 4th, on ABC (see complete series schedule below).  The Lakers won the season series versus the Jazz, 3-1, where they averaged 111 points to Utah’s 108.  It’s going to be a tough series considering the Lakers will be without Center Andrew Bynum for the entire series, and quite possibly the Playoffs altogether.  However, they should be getting Trevor Ariza back to provide defensive support in the back court. 

The Lakers won both their home games versus the Jazz this season and even won one on the road in Utah.  So they have proven they could go into Utah and win in a hostile environment.  Experts are predicting the series go 7 games.  However, if the Lakers can maintain homecourt and win one game in Utah, they could wrap up the series in 5 games. 

Complete Series Schedule:
Game 1: Sun., May 4: at L.A., 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 2: Tue., May 6: at L.A., 10:30 p.m. (TNT)
Game 3: Fri., May 9: at Utah, 9:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
Game 4: Sun., May 11: at Utah, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC)
Game 5*: TBD: at L.A., TBD (TBD)
Game 6*: TBD: at Utah, TBD (TBD)
Game 7*: TBD: at L.A., TBD (TBD)
* if necessary

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Kobe started Wednesday’s Game 2 versus the Denver Nuggets on fire.  He scored any and every way imaginable - jumpers, layups, dunks, and-1’s, free-throws - you name it, Kobe did it.  He ended the 1st quarter with 20 points, two points shy of a Laker playoff record.  In the 2nd and 3rd quarters, Kobe looked more to get his teammates involved rather than scoring.  However, in the 4th and final quarter, Kobe looked to be more aggressive, scoring at will against Linas Kleiza and J.R. Smith, en route to 19 fourth quarter points as the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 122-107.  Kobe ended the game with 49 points (18-27 FGM-A), 10 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block.  He was one point shy of his playoff career high of 50 points. 

The Lakers now lead the series 2-0 as both teams head to Denver for games 3 and 4. 

An interesting note: Kobe is now part of a small group of players to hit the 40-10 mark in the playoffs in the last 15 years.
2008 - Kobe Bryant 49-10 Lakers
2001 - Tracy McGrady 42-10 Magic
1995 - Kevin Johnson 46-10 Suns *
1993 - Charles Barkley 43-10 Suns
* - Lost game

Watch Kobe’s highlights from Game 2 here. 

Photo above courtesy of AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill

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