The Lakers are back in the Finals!!
The Los Angeles Lakers are back in the Finals.
Behind Kobe Bryant's 35 points and 10 assists, the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 119-92 in Game 6 to claim their 30th Western Conference title.
There is still that big buzz about having Kobe-LeBron in the Finals, but I don't think it's going to happen. I really think that Orlando will pull away from Cleveland and go to the Finals for the first time since '95.
Kobe complimented the Nuggets and said that they really helped the Lakers get to where they wanted to be.
"Denver is a great team, very skilled at all positions," Bryant said. "Strong inside. Strong on the perimeter. Huge problem for us. And because of that, we had to elevate our level as a unit. And if we didn't do that, we'd be going home early."
The biggest reason for this is Chauncey Billups. If he was never traded over to Denver, they would have been done a long time ago. Billups is a great team leader and plays very well on this squad.
"Obviously today is a tough day in losing," Billups said. "But it's been absolutely the best year I've been a part of outside of winning the championship in '04, me coming home, me being a proud Denver kid all my life."
I think this series really helped both teams. George Karl has the same mindset.
"In a lot of ways, we've helped them put their pieces back together and they've helped us grow up faster," he said.
The Nuggets need to grow a little more, though. They have amazing pieces on their team. Expect them to be back in the Finals in 2010.
It wasn't just Bryant that was doing all the work, though. He got terrific help from his teammates. Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom both put up 20 points, and Trevor Ariza added 17. The Lakers made all 24 of their free throws, and shot 9-for-16 on three pointers.
The Nuggets were led by Carmelo Anthony's 25 and J.R. Smith's 24, and Billups had 10 points and 9 assists.
Game's Highlights:
