On Thursday night, with 23 points and 15 rebounds, Kobe Bryant led the LA Lakers to a 83-79 win over the Boston Celtics, and to their 16th championship, earning a fifth ring for himself.
It was clear from his performance, that Kobe was incredibly tired.
“I was on E,” Kobe said. “I was really, really tired, and the more I tried to push the more it kept getting away from me.”
Despite his exhaustion Kobe was able to pull off nine free throws in the fourth quarter, bringing the Lakers ahead after being behind 13 points in the second half.
Bryant didn’t do it single handedly though. Pau Gasol, the Lakers forward, scored 19 very essential points and had 18 rebounds.
The Celtics had many missed opportunities during the fourth quarter, and just as many fouls. Some who were watching would say that they didn’t lose the game to the Lakers, but to the refs.
What the Celtics really lacked were rebounds, Kevin Garnett had a total of three rebounds while his teammate Rondo had eight.
The entire fourth quarter seemed like a struggle for the Celtics who seemed to be trying, unsuccessfully, to keep up with Kobe.
“We were scratching and clawing, trying to do everything we could to try to pull this out,” said Celtics shooting guard Ray Allen. “We had an opportunity to win, but it just didn’t go our way down the stretch.”
Though the game as a whole wasn’t particularly awe inspiring, the Lakers did what they had to do to win, and did it well.
