Last night was Game 5 of the NBA Finals.  The Lakers headed into the game looking to close out the series, and the Magic were hoping to stay alive on their home court.
The first half was a neck-and-neck battle, but in the closing minutes of the 2nd quarter, the Lakers pulled away, and headed into the half up by 10.  This didn’t bare well for the Magic, a resilient team, but let’s face it, you don’t want to fall too behind to LA.  Kobe’s best strength is protecting a lead.  Whenever you think you are making a run, or getting defensive stops, he will come back and either hit a 3, dish off for a 3, or dunk it in your face.
The 3rd quarter didn’t go Orlando’s way either.  The Lakers managed their lead the entire quarter and even extended it.  Kobe Bryant played a marvelous game, and you could tell he really wanted to close out this series last night (as opposed to waiting until they were back on Los Angeles turf).  He finished the game with a fantastic 30 points, 5 assists, and 6 rebounds.
And, unfortunately, the 4th quarter provided no fruits for the Magic.  They had a few mini-runs, cutting the lead to 12 or 10, but they just couldn’t get stops.  Dwight Howard finished the night with a mere 11 points and 10 rebounds.  He was essentially a non-factor for a team that needed their “Superman” to really step up.  And every time the Magic got a little hot, it seemed that the Lakers did whatever they wanted to do on their end, and thus crush the Magic’s momentum.  Not even the Orlando crowd was into it in the 4th quarter.  It’s as if they knew the writing was on the wall.
Finally, it ended, and the Los Angeles Lakers clinched their 15th NBA Championship in franchise history.  The headline story is, of course, Kobe Bryant winning his 4th championship, and ultimately ending the argument if he could win a title without Shaq.  Plus, with this title, many basketball experts feel he moves into the top 7 players of all time.  He was absolutely ruthless in this series, and was dubbed the Finals MVP.   Moreover, Phil Jackson now has, count ’em, 10 NBA Championship rings.  6 with the Bulls, and 4 with the Lakers.  That is truly incredible!  The Magic on the other hand will surely make some key off-season moves, and will definitely be back in the Championship hunt next season.

MLB

Elsewhere in the sports world, the MLB Draft may be over and done with, and the college world series is in the full swing, but the #1 story in baseball is about Bryce Harper.  Harper is a 16-year old phenom, dubbed the LeBron James of baseball.  And baseball seriously needs a super-duper star.  The main story here is that Harper is SO GOOD, that he will drop out of High School at the age of 16, and enroll in a community college.  The plan here is to enter the baseball draft as early as possible.  Big question is… will he live up to the hype?