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Probably the biggest sub-plot of these Finals, in the final analysis, is that it's Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant's best chance ever to prove that they can win a title without an unfair advantage (See: Jordan, Michael or O'Neal, Shaquille).

Consider Phil Jackson's decision to return to the Lakers, post O'Neal. During that drawn out 2005 process, after a year away from the game, Jackson made clear that he really enjoyed not coaching. Coming back -- with various health problems -- was a sacrifice he didn't take on lightly. 

And when you have nine rings, you don't embrace those kinds of hassles just because you love the sound of sneakers squeaking on hardwood. He came back to get rings. 

Four long years later, he's still chasing the next one.

There was a certain eagerness in Jackson's voice post-game after his team went up 3-1 thanks to an overtime victory on the road against the Magic. 

The Lakers seem all but assured a title (the last time a team up 3-1 even forced a Game 7 in the Finals was 1966). Asked about winning a tenth, Jackson lapsed for a moment into thoughts of "two handfuls" of rings. But then he quickly corrected course and said they weren't thinking about that yet. Complacency will not be part of the equation if Phil Jackson can help it. He has a job to do.

The 2000 Finals featured: Overtime on the road of a Game 4 to put the Lakers up 3-1, the birth of Kobe Bryant the unabashed superstar, a victory for Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant without major-league help, and a cautionary tale for this year's Finals. After a gritty Game 4 win, the Lakers mailed in Game 5 before winning at home in 6. (Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images)

But in a certain sense, Bryant and Jackson already have their title sans super-help.

I'm talking about 2000, against the Indiana Pacers, in an overtime Game 4 that, much like this year's Game 4, put the Lakers up 3-1 in what could have easily become a 2-2 dogfight.

Shaquille O'Neal had 36 points and 21 rebounds in that game, but he fouled out early in overtime.

It's hard to remember now, but overtime of that game was really when Kobe Bryant became Kobe Bryant.

Up to that point, he had been a virtuoso on a tremendous trajectory. But in that overtime, the Lakers were naked and needy -- on the road needing a miracle without O'Neal, who was incessantly dominant in those days.

They turned to Bryant, who almost didn't play, having missed Game 3 with a serious ankle injury. To suit the special circumstances, Bryant and the Lakers wholly changed their offense -- spreading the floor and letting Bryant create one-on-one.

Bryant had been asking Jackson to do that nearly all season, and capitalized handily with eight overtime points, including the bucket that sealed the 120-118 victory.

What Phil Jackson remembers most starkly about that series, however, and what the Lakers were reminded of post-game tonight, is that after Bryant's heroism, the Lakers came out extremely soft in Game 5. And they ... got ... killed, losing 120-87.

Bryant, Rick Fox, Brian Shaw, and Derek Fisher finished a combined four of 30 from the field. Jalen Rose and Reggie Miller took 30 shots and scored 57 points. Nearly everything the Pacers did worked. In Roland Lazenby's book "The Show: The Inside Story of the Spectacular Los Angeles Lakers" Bryant is quoted saying: "I was sitting on the bench during the blowout, I looked over at Shaquille. I told him it would be much better to win it at home anyway. And he said you're probably right."

If you're Phil Jackson, or Kobe Bryant, that's exactly the attitude you don't want your team to have now. Those two have a ton to prove, and given their respective ages they're unlikely to ever have a better chance to prove it than right now. It has been a grueling four years, that has left both the worse for year.

And everyone knows the Magic won't quit -- that team has battled every minute of the playoffs, against all kinds of long odds (with Dwight Howard suspended, down 3-2 to the defending champions, in Boston for Game 7,  and against the mighty Cavaliers). Game 7 against a poised team is crazy time when silly things can happen. Give up a cheap Game 5, and there's essentially a must-win Game 6 in the middle there. Much better to win in 5.

Stan Van Gundy brushed off the notion that Finals experience means much of anything, pointing out that basketball is a simple game and every player on the court has the benefit of having played thousands of games. The rules don't change in the Finals.

It's an enticing point. But consider the position of the Lakers here. With nothing more than one more tremendous effort, they can probably win the title they have craved for more than a half-decade on Sunday. Or, they can play with fire, as they did in 2000, and lose to a devil-may-care opponent, and roll the dice in Games 6 and 7.

I don't know what's going to happen in Game 5 -- but with memories of 2000's Game 5 vivid in the memories of Phil Jackson, Brian Shaw, Kobe Bryant, Derek Fisher, Mitch Kupchak and others in the Laker organization, I'd be shocked if the Lakers don't arrive 100% motivated on Sunday. 

Call it experience, professionalim, or anything else you want ... it tends to work.