The celebration began for the Los Angeles Lakers during a timeout with 40 seconds to go on Sunday night, but their 15th NBA title had already been wrapped up long before that though. It didn’t take much from there to make it official either, by way of a 99-86 Game 5 decision over the Orlando Magic at Amway Arena.

Despite the efforts of the Magic, who got off to a furious start in the opening quarter of the deciding game but deteriorated in the second half, the Lakers methodically dismantled Orlando on their home court to cap off a 4-1 series win. It was 11 points from Kobe Bryant in the first quarter, a go-ahead three-pointer from Trevor Ariza in the second quarter, big three-pointers drained by Lamar Odom in the third quarter, and the efforts of L.A.’s supporting cast down the stretch that ensured the closeout. Handshakes and hugs were then passed around as civilians from the dejected city of Orlando could only look on. Or away.

And with that, Bryant and Derek Fisher earn their fourth NBA titles and head coach Phil Jackson officially goes down as the greatest coach in NBA history. Or is it the greatest in sports history? Jackson now owns every possible career playoff coaching record and finally stands alone atop the championship mountain after having now won 10 titles in 12 trips. As amazing as it was for spectators to be a part of what Red Auerbach had accomplished, back when he guided the Boston Celtics to nine titles over 10 years, two decades worth of basketball fans from each coast have bared witness to the greatness that is the Zen Master.

Quote of the Night – ”I really don’t think people appreciate how great this guy is,” said Mark Jackson about Kobe Bryant after watching him knock down a tough shot. “I learned early on as a broadcaster that you don’t want to throw around the word “great.” Well, I’m going to go out on a limb and say this guy is great.”

Best Advertisement –  The lonely-LeBron puppet commercials, where he says “good luck buddy” while watching Kobe on TV and then counts down to next season while doing curls in Kobe’s gym, shows that Nike knows no limit to how far they’ll take their superstar marketing campaign. Check out more puppetry at Nike Basketball. And prepare for more, more, more Kobe and LeBron for years to come.

Makes Me Wonder – How many roster changes will take place between these two teams before the start of next season. If these teams can’t find a way to keep key ingredients such as Turkoglu, Gortat, Ariza and Odom, will they be able to replace them with the kind of talent that helps basketball teams advance to the Finals?

For Stats Sake – Bryant wrapped up this series by earning the NBA Finals MVP Trophy after going for 30 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks and 2 steals in Game 5. Lamar Odom recorded 17 points, 10 rebounds and hit 3 three’s, Pau Gasol had 14 points, 15 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 assists, and Trevor Ariza had 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 three-pointers for the champs. The Magic went 8-for-27 from long distance, were outrebounded by 11, and had 8 shots blocked by L.A.

Free Throws – Not counting foreign-born players, four players who entered the NBA straight out of high school were starters in the 2009 NBA Finals. Among them were Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard for Orlando and Bryant and Andrew Bynum for Los Angeles… What would have become of the Magic if Billy Donovan had not run back to the University of Florida a couple years ago and Stan Van Gundy had instead taken over as head coach of the Sacramento Kings?… Anybody know where I can get a highlight tape of NBA player Rafer Alston imitating those AND1 guys I see on TV, like when he passed the ball between his legs to Lewis as he trailed from behind in the first quarter or went behind-the-back in the post to avoid a defender a couple games ago? Oh wait, never mind…

 –– Further Analysis from the Joint Contrast Crew ––

== Says J.C. – As lopsided as a 4-1 series sounds, it looked much closer than that in the grand scheme of things. Not to say that the Lakers weren’t the better team, but think about it. Going into Game 5, this series easily could have been 3-1 the other way around had those two overtime games ended as planned for the Magic. But they didn’t. And just as what happened in Detroit two days earlier when Pittsburgh won the Stanley Cup on the road, Orlando fans had to watch the visiting team celebrate during the trophy presentation on their home floor. Again. The same sort of thing took place back in 1995 after the Houston Rockets swept through town. The one glaring similarity between this Magic team and the one that advanced to the Finals all those years ago is that a franchise-caliber center led the charge each time. It was Shaquille O’Neal back then. It’s Dwight Howard now. But will this version crumble from the inside out like that team did more than a decade ago? This summer will be an interesting one in Orlando.

== Says Ray-Ray – First off, I’d like to congratulate the Orlando Magic on a great season and an amazing playoff run that carried them to the Finals. On that note, hell of a job Lakers! That was a damn good closeout game. Defensive tenacity, attacking the rim, rebounding, shot blocking, steals and hitting the big shots. But, that double clutch pump-fake fadeaway shot, and the floater over Howard, were astounding plays by Finals MVP Kobe Bryant, aka The Black Mamba. This effort showed the work he has put in, and just how hard he played in this series to win it all and finally get out of Shaq’s shadow (whether he will admit it or not). The defense by Ariza (thanks for the trade, Orlando), the big three-pointers by Odom, an all-around great series for Gasol (thanks again, Memphis), combined with the leadership and some huge shots from Fisher, showed the all-around team effort it takes to win in the Finals. This series showed how size truly does matter, in the NBA that is. We saw how it worked for both teams. How having some of the best and most agile big men in the league being able to control the inside, as well as guard the outside, and how both teams utilized their size in each matchup on their way to this point were needed. And speaking of the Finals, do you realize that each time Phil Jackson has started a championship run he has three-peated? So lets see how L.A. does next year. In closing this series of thoughts, I would like to send a shout out to Jackson for getting No. 10 and becoming the winningest coach in NBA history. And by the way, badass hat he was wearing afterwards.

== Says TimS – The NBA Playoffs. Where amazing happens. Except in the Finals. The epic Bulls-Celtics series. The back and forth heroics in the Boston-Orlando series. Denver manhandling their way to the Conference Finals. Cleveland embarrassing the Pistons and the Hawks, then getting embarrassed by the Magic. It was all so exciting. And then we get this horseshit series. Even when it was close it was never competitive. Dwight’s underdeveloped post game was exposed. Pau Gasol got uglier with every possession and Kobe often displayed his Thug Poet face (seriously, am I the only one that remembers that shit?). After watching him make that ridiculous face over and over I’m wondering if he learned it from that Mormon girl he ass-raped a few years ago (she might not have said “no”, but I bet she said “no, not there”). They we may never know, we did find out that Odom loves Sour Patch Kids more than basketball and that Trevor Ariza is, well, we found out that Trevor Ariza is going to be a rich man. So as the season comes to a close I anticipate one thing happening next year at this same time. The greatest rap duet ever: “Kobe, Tell Us How Our Asses Taste“ by King James and Shaqfu.

–– Further Coverage from the Joint Contrast Crew ––

Check out our exclusive NBA Finals coverage of Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, and Game 4.

In the most recent episode of the NBA Finals on Thursday night the Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers overcome a parade of whistles by an eager officiating crew at Amway Arena to actually make a game out of Game 4.

The 99-91 win for L.A. gives the Lakers a firm 3-1 series lead and inches the franchise closer to its 15th title. Orlando on the other hand is feeling about as good as Cleveland is right now after blowing their second shot at a win in these Finals. If such a thing as a sports curse actually does exist, then be assured Magic fans will be talking about the “greatest free throw misses” in franchise history for years to come. Nick Anderson, you are no longer alone.

The Magic finished the night with 15 misses from the charity stripe with Dwight Howard and Hedo Turkoglu combining for 13 between the two of them. Just as bad were Orlando’s 17 turnovers.

The same small-market team that two days earlier torched the nets in a record setting shooting performance got it done on defense early on but couldn’t finish the job. In the first half the Magic carried the momentum by holding Hollywood to just 37 points. They then pulled a Cavalier-like card out of their hats (after being up 12 at the break) and muddled their way through the third quarter for just 14 points, compared to L.A.’s 30. But even that wasn’t the death of them. Somehow the Magic weathered the Laker storm and found themselves up five with a minute-and-half to go. The Lakers kept coming though, and the Magic backed down.

From that moment on it was Pau Gasol scoring in the paint. It was Howard missing two straight free throws. It was Jameer Nelson getting an up-close view of Derek Fisher’s resurrected jump shot from behind the arc with only four seconds left. Tie game, 87-87. On to the second overtime of the series. Fast-forward to a 91-91 game with 31 seconds remaining and imagine the dagger piercing the hearts of Orlando fans as Fisher drains another one from downtown. The Magic no longer could answer. We’ll find out if they can keep this thing alive though in Game 5 on Sunday night at 8 p.m.

Quote of the Night – “I don’t know what the referees are seeing out there in this first quarter. There are some bogus calls out there,” said Phil Jackson before the start of the second quarter after being asked “what positions” are putting his players in foul trouble.

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Makes Me Wonder – If the NBA actually thinks the officiating in the Finals and/or overall playoffs has been up to par. They should at least make a public announcement explaining what is considered a foul nowadays.

For Stats Sake – Bryant racked up 32 points, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line while Gasol (10 rebounds) and Trevor Ariza (9 rebounds, 3 trey’s) each went for 16 points. Howard led Orlando with 16 points, 21 rebounds, an NBA Finals record 9 blocks and 7 turnovers while Hedo Turkoglu had 25 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.

You would think that after the second-half blowout we sat through in Game 1 on Thursday night the Los Angeles Lakers and Orlando Magic would remember they’re in the NBA Finals and act accordingly. But instead we at Joint Contrast had to ride the edge of our sofas into overtime before finding out how the second installment would end.

And it ended with a bang, for the most part. A tie game, 84-84, with two minutes to go… Rashard Lewis puts the Magic up by two with a minute-and-a-half remaining. Answering was Kobe Bryant for L.A. Then Hedo Turkoglu on a long two-pointer for Orlando. Cue Pau Gasol, who knotted things up at 88-88 with a half-minute to go to allow the drama to continue. Then a rookie for the Magic takes a shot in the paint that would take a bad bounce off the rim with nine seconds left. On to Bryant getting blocked from behind by Turkoglu. One more chance for Orlando. But that only gave Courtney Lee another game-winning shot near the hoop to miss, this time on the final play of regulation. On to overtime. And out go the lights for another night on Orlando. Final score 101-96, L.A.

What turned out to be an exciting finish was much more painful to watch early on. To be frank, what a piss-poor performance to start Game 2 by both teams. They made only 10 of 34 shots in the first quarter between them. What a snoozer. Not only could either team hit a shot from the field, but four players managed to rack up two fouls apiece. As insignificant as that was, it outlines how this thing started. Here’s hoping Game 3 at Amway Arena on Tuesday night (9 p.m.) is as good as the last five minutes (and overtime) of Game 2.

Quote of the Night – ”These are the worst fast-breaks I’ve ever seen run!”, courtesy of Jeff Van Gundy after watching Orlando bring the ball down in the third quarter. Mark Jackson followed that up shortly thereafter with a “take notes Orlando” while praising a fast-break effort by the Lakers.