Return of The Lake Show

The Los Angeles Lakers won the 2009 NBA championship tonight in Orlando, beating the Magic 99-86 to win the series 4-1.

It's the 15th championship for the Lakers franchise, 10th overall for Coach Phil Jackson and fourth for Finals MVP Kobe Bryant and clutch point guard Derek Fisher.

Of course, some L.A. fans haven't figured out how to deal with prosperity.

The New Math: 24 = 40 + 8 + 8 = 1-0

Kobe Bryant goes for 40 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as the Lakers blew out the Orlando Magic 100-75 in game one of the 2009 NBA Finals.

Game two on Sunday night.

Rough Week

First, the Lakers lose the NBA Finals in historic fashion.

Then, Tiger Woods shuts down his season due to injury.

Now, Italy gets bounced from the quarter-finals of Euro 2008 on penalties by Spain.

Both sides played a lackluster 90 minutes, with Spain mustering less than a handful of genuine opportunities to score and Italy even fewer.

Extra time proved equally uneventful, and so both sides squared off from the penalty spot.

Of course, the last time Italy was in a penalty shootout in a major competition, they made the most of it and won the 2006 World Cup.

This time, it was not to be. Spain's Iker Casillas got his hand to two Italian tries, and those two key saves made the difference for La Seleccion.

Spain will face Russia in one semifinal, while Germany and Turkey will square off in the other.

Speechless

The Boston Celtics destroyed the Lakers by 39 points in a rout of historic proportions to win the NBA championship for 2008.

I've never seen a Lakers team get rolled this badly in such a decisive contest. And neither has anyone else. The Celtics' 39-point margin of victory was the greatest in a clinching game in the history of the NBA Finals.

As my friend's grade-school-age son noted, when he added up the differential in the closing seconds and noted the Lakers were down by 40: "Hopefully we'll learn from this for next season."

Indeed.

Shock Value

The big sports month continued today, with professional golf's second major of the year -- the U.S. Open -- commencing in San Diego, the Lakers squaring off against the Celtics in game four of the NBA Finals, and day two of the second round of soccer's Europe 2008 championship kicking off in Austria and Switzerland.

And, of course, nothing went according to plan.

Tiger Woods -- returning from a lengthy layoff following knee surgery -- made double-bogey six on the first hole at Torrey Pines but rallied to finish just four shots off the lead at one-over par, recovering from a second double-bogey on the back nine.

International soccer powerhouse Germany was upended by fiery Croatia, whose 2-1 victory propelled them into the quarterfinals of the tournament. Germany can still advance by beating Poland on Monday.

Finally, the Lakers jumped out to a 24-point first-half lead, withstood a strong Celtics run to maintain an 18-point advantage at halftime ... only to flop completely in the second half and lose the pivotal game four in a collapse of historic proportions.

The only good part about the Lakers loss was meeting up with an old friend to watch the game over dinner. So I had that going for me. Which is nice.

Lakers vs. Celtics

The NBA has gone back to the future. The Los Angeles Lakers will face off against the Boston Celtics in the 2008 NBA Finals, a rematch 21 years in the making since the Lakers topped the Celtics in 1987.

The last time these two storied franchises met for the NBA championship, Ronald Reagan was President of the United States, gas was under $1 per gallon, "Beverly Hills Cop II" dominated the summer box office, and Bon Jovi's "Slippery When Wet" was the best-selling record (shudder).

ESPN has the top 10 most memorable moments in the L.A.-Boston rivalry, and ESPN Classic will be airing some standout games from the '80s leading up to Thursday's opener.

Go Lakers!

UPDATE, SUNDAY, JUNE 1: East Coast bias is alive and well in the media. :) The three journalists who gave predictions on ESPN's "Sports Reporters" this morning all picked the Celtics. Silly boys. Maybe the Lakers playoff games were just on too late -- past their bedtimes -- and these guys haven't seen them play. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Sports Week

It's been a big week in sports.

* U.K. soccer giants Manchester United followed up their winning of the English Premier League title by outlasting British rivals Chelsea to win the European Champions League in a thrilling match Wednesday. Tied 1-1 after regulation and extra time, the two clubs squared off in a penalty kick shootout in the pouring rain in Moscow. United superstar Cristiano Ronaldo had his unsteady penalty try saved easily by Chelsea keeper Peter Cech, opening the door for the London side to win the European title on Russian owner Roman Abramovich's home turf. Chelsea captain John Terry slipped as he pushed the would-be game winner wide of the goal, and the Blues were done for good when United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar denied Nicolas Anelka's attempt, securing the Cup for the Red Devils.

* The Los Angeles Lakers rekindled thoughts of the early 2000s -- if not the 1980s -- by taking a 2-0 lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA's Western Conference Playoffs. Down by 20 in the third quarter of the first game, the Lakers rallied to win behind a surreal 25-point second half performance by Kobe Bryant. Second game: Lakers by 30.

* I don't really follow hockey, but the Pittsburgh Penguins blanked the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0 to earn a trip to face the Detroit Red Wings in the Stanley Cup. Since my family hails from northern West Virginia, just 30 miles from the 'burgh, and since Sid "The Kid" Crosby is the best thing to happen to hockey since Mario Lemieux: Go Pens!

¡Muy bien!

Fresh off the All Star break following a nine-game road trip in which they improbably went 7-2 (and could have been 9-0), the Lakers returned to STAPLES Center Tuesday night to open the second half of the season against the lowly Atlanta Hawks, in advance of Wednesday's road showdown against the Phoenix Suns and their new center, some dude named O'Neal.

The game marked the home debut of the newest Laker, Spaniard Pau Gasol, and the Catalan Colossus (c. Bobby P. Inc., All Rights Reserved) didn't disappoint, pouring in 23 points and grabbing six boards in a 29-point Lakers rout.

Doubters may caution "Here come the Suns," but the Lakers just say, "It's all right."

That loud pop you just heard was the sound of thousands of Southern California hamstrings pulling as fans (this blogger among the guilty) jump back on the Lakers bandwagon after a couple years of dissatisfaction at l'enfant terrible's whining. Hey Kobe, all is forgiven!

UPDATE: Lakers by six over Phoenix in an exciting, fast-paced game brimming with playoff intensity and overflowing with hoops artistry. Poetry in motion.

Hoops Follies

Last week, it was the Lakers fleecing the Grizzlies, landing the pride of Barcelona -- All-Star superstar Pau Gasol -- for the disappointing Kwame Brown, rookie Javaris Crittenton, the retired Aaron McKie, Gasol's own brother, Marc, and a couple of future draft picks.

Then, the shocking news comes today that the Phoenix Suns have blown up their Western Conference-leading squad by trading the high-flying, do-it-all Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks (interestingly, two former UNLV Runnin' Rebels) for the once-legendary but no longer invincible Shaquille O'Neal.

Sure, Shaq owns four championship rings and will forever be beloved in Los Angeles for leading the Lakers to three consecutive titles in the early 2000s, but he's clearly on the downward side of his career. His plodding, half-court game doesn't fit Phoenix's up-tempo style, and his need (heretofore) to be the primary offensive option for his team doesn't bode well for his being willing to assume a secondary role similar to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the late '80s when he openly deferred to Magic Johnson and James Worthy.

The Big Aristotle -- as Shaq sometimes likes to refer to himself -- might shock us all, but this seems like a terrible move by the Suns. Time will obviously tell.

ESPN's J.A. Adande doesn't like the deal either.