Kobe Bryant celebrates his fifth championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, named finals MVP a second time.
Heading into the series, the Celtics knew that in order to win the title they would have to figure out a way to prevent Bryant from taking over games in the final two minutes.
But Bryant has a knack for raising his game at the right time and he did just that in the Lakers 83-79 win Thursday to take the championship series 4-3.
If you take away his ability to score, like the Celtics did by making him constantly go to his left in the series, he can beat you in other ways. Thursday he did it with his 15 rebounds, including a game-high 11 on defence.
Of his five championship rings, Bryant says this series one took the most out of him both physically and mentally.
"I was so tired my ears were ringing, they really were," he said of the fourth quarter at the sold out (18,997) Staples Center arena. "It felt like It was 6:00 am in the morning and I was on the track running. I was just drained."
It took Bryant three quarters to get going in game seven, but once he did he bobbed and weaved his way through Boston defence to finish with a game high 23-points.
"It was the most physical one," he said during the post-game celebration. "They believed that they could beat us. But the physicality of their team, how smart they are, extremely well coached, and guys made big shots. It was tough. They weren't going to beat themselves, we had to beat them."
Eight times Bryant has been on the all-NBA team and eight times he has been on the all-defensive team. He has been MVP of the all-star game, the league and Thursday he was named MVP of the finals for the second-straight season.
This was Bryant's second consecutive championship and second without former teammate Shaquille O'Neal. Since O'Neal was traded away in 2004, Bryant has bristled at any suggestions he couldn't win without the giant centre's help on offence.
So asked Thursday what makes this championship so special, Bryant said, "Just got one more than Shaq. You can take that to the bank. You know how I am. I don't forget anything."
Bryant averaged 29.5 points per game against the Celtics heading into game seven. He had just eight points in the first half Thursday as the Lakers looked to be headed to their second loss in three years in a final to Boston before they rallied from a 13-point deficit.
The win marks the Lakers first game seven victory over the Celtics in five tries in franchise history. Bryant wouldn't admit it earlier in the series but it is something he was fully aware of going into game seven.
"I know every series that the Lakers have played in," Bryant said. "I mean, I was just a Laker nut, and I know every Celtics series, I know every statistic. (Winning) meant the world to me."
Bryant said now that the season is over he can think about getting treatment on a couple of injuries that have dogged him throughout the playoffs.
"I'm obviously going to have to look at the knee and figure some things out," Bryant said. "I can't play a whole entire season the way it is now. Same thing with the finger.
"You know, without the tape, I can't grip a basketball. There's some things I'll have to figure out in the off-season, but it was good enough to get through this one."
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