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The Lakers came up with the goods for the second time on the road to beat the Orlando Magic 99-86 to clinch their 15th NBA championship. It was a night for celebrations as Coach Phil Jackson ended a seven year drought to pick up his 10th championship ring (as a coach) and go top of the NBA leaderboard as the greatest coach of all time. The drought was also over for MVP Kobe Bryant who finally stepped out from under the extra large shadow of former teammate Shaquille O'Neal to win his fourth title, and first without the big man by his side.

Game 5 at the Amway Arena started off in perfect fashion for the home fans as some hot shooting from inside the arc saw Orlando race to a 15-6 lead. However, the champion side that the Lakers are surfaced in the first quarter itself as Kobe Bryant scored 11 points to lead a Lakers 16-9 run at the end of the quarter to bring Orlando's lead down to just 2 at 28-26.

Orlando stretched that lead to four points, 40-36 with a little over 7 minutes to play in the first half, as they looked really up for this game in the early exchanges. But in a couple of crucial plays Game 4 saviour Derek Fisher and Trever Ariza slammed in consecutive 3 pointers to hand the Lakers their first lead of the night.

Those two plays turned out to be series deciding as the Magic never really recovered as they chased the game from that point on. The Lakers ended the half with a 10 point lead as the Magic just couldn't buy their way to the basket. Ariza scored 11 of his 15 points for the night in that second quarter as the Lakers dished out 30 points!

Rafer Alston drained a three-pointer early in the third quarter to cut the LA lead back down to 5 points, but it was as close as Orlando would come on the night as Lamar Odom's back to back three pointers made certain that the lead would stick and build in the third quarter. Odom finished with17 points and 10 rebounds.

The Lakers went into the final quarter seemingly already champions with a 15 point lead to their credit. The Magic tried desperately to shoot their way back into the series, but had a very disappointing night especially from 3-point land where they shot 8 from 27, not even 30%.

Superman Dwight Howard didn't look anything like 'The Man of Steel' finishing with 11 points. He only shot nine times and was never given a chance to get going by the Lakers. Rashard Lewis scored 18 points, but was only 3 of 12 on 3s for Orlando, landing two of those late in the fourth quarter. Magic as a team thrives on its high field goal percentage, but it just wasn't their night as Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Hedo Turkoglu all finished with an identical 12 points - too few to be competitive with Kobe and the Lakers.

Pau Gasol had another great night, showing why he is one of the best forwards in the League. He was quick on offence and tough on defence giving a hard time to Howard and Lee. Making sure he picked up the rebounds and didn't let the Magic dominate the glass on either side. He finished with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Proving exactly why Bryant was so glad to have him on his side.

"Got a new point guard, got a new wing, got a Spaniard and then it was all good," said Bryant. "It was all good. I had a bunch of Christmas presents that came early."  

As the Orlando Magic let the last few seconds slip into oblivion, Kobe Bryant jumped up and down smiling like a little boy after a season full of snarling, scowling, grunting and clipped answers. Kobe buried his ghosts, his nightmares and critics who didn't think him to be an NBA great. As he lifted the Bill Russell MVP trophy for the post season with 32.4 points, 7.2 assists and 5.6 rebounds on an average, the numbers told only half a story about Bryant's dedication and determination to get the Lakers to lift the Larry O' Brien trophy.

His ex-teammate acknowledges the big moment. "Congratulations Kobe, u deserve it," Shaq said on his Twitter page. "You played great. Enjoy it my man enjoy it."

We agree with the big man. Can't wait for next season! 

 

Photographs Courtesy: The NBA