- Kobe Bryant is as good as they get. One of the big debates in basketball statistics is the value of being able to create a shot. Bryant can always create a shot, and usually does. He took 30 last night. A lot of stat experts, and coaches, would tell you that's too many. But compare that to a lot of other stars in recent playoffs -- Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan against the Lakers, LeBron James against the Spurs last year, and so many others facing lockdown D. They just get so bogged down at times. The whole offense seizes up. You know when they bring the ball over half-court that it's going to be a trial just to get a clean look. Bryant and his teammates almost never seize up. (More on that from David Friedman.)
- Credit Phil Jackson. For much of the last two years, people have been wondering why he stuck with Vladimir Radmanovic and Sasha Vujacic. Then, in some of the biggest games of the playoffs, those two guys prove to be exactly what the Lakers needed. Young but efficient, taking what the defense gives, and making things tough for the opponent on the other end. The Spurs could use a few guys like that.
- How about that Justin Kubatko! The reigning champ of the TrueHoop Stat Geek Smackdown was all alone in first, until his pick of the Hornets over the Spurs created an opening for newcomer Stephen Ilardi to tie. Then they both picked the Lakers in this series. But Kubatko's numbers -- against his intuition -- said the Lakers would win in five. Ilardi had them winning in seven. And once again, Kubatko's numbers prove to be insightful, so he carries a slim lead for the moment. But Ilardi has the Celtics in seven, and could easily close the gap. Meanwhile, superstar Jeffrey Ma (He not only advises the Blazers, but was the protagonist, under the name Kevin Lewis, in the bestseller "Bringing Down the House," the story of the MIT blackjack team, which is the basis of the movie "21.") had a hail mary scheme to get back into the contest which was built around a Spurs victory. Tough night for him.
- Don't you kind of get the feeling that if the Spurs could take a week off, and sit on a beach somewhere, they could come back and play much better? Of course, that's not how the game is played. But it's kind of sad to watch Manu Ginobili not doing the things that make him Manu Ginobili. If they had somehow beat the Lakers -- which was not going to happen, the Lakers are magnificent -- I would have picked the Spurs to win the Finals, in no small part because the Finals comes with a lot of downtime.
- Tim Duncan had ten assists.
- ESPN's Marc Stein: "... there seems to be little doubt that seven-ringed playoff legend Robert Horry has played his last game for the Spurs, since Horry didn't get a single second of playing time in Game 5 after failing to register a single bucket in the first four games."
- So glad this series didn't end up being close. We can all move past "the no-call." (Johnny Ludden of Yahoo: "Popovich publicly downplayed the impact of the non-call, but privately he wasn't too happy Crawford was allowed to officiate the game. League officials can expect to hear from the Spurs at some point this summer.") ESPN's J.A. Adande quotes Brent Barry putting an awesome Back to the Future spin on the NBA's announcement that a foul should have been called: "'That's awesome,' Barry said, 'because Doc Brown is waiting for me outside, and we're going to get in the DeLorean and fire up the flux capacitor and we're going to go back and shoot a couple of free throws.'"
- Guess Kobe Bryant made the right decision not to get surgery on that pinkie ligament.
- Gregg Popovich on his roster: "I think they're pretty damn solid. They just played a team that was better." True. Lots of class from both teams in the post-game press conference:
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