Kobe showed off his closing ability and truly looked like the black mamba of old. He broke down Wesley Matthews in the post several times in the fourth quarter, getting to the foul line with impunity. On the day Lebron was awarded the MVP it was crazy to see Kobe going to the line with the MVP chants rocking at Staples Center. Lebron got 116 out of 123 votes so I'm sure Kobe wanted to show that the vote shouldn't have been that one sided.
All schoolyard MVP talk aside, the Lakers looked really good defensively in this game. Odom and Gasol wouldn't let Milsap or Boozer get up many easy shots. The Lakers are finally starting to look like the team everyone was talking about at the beginning of the year with their versatile defenders. They even put Ron Artest on Deron Williams for some of the game. Phil Jackson may need to do that more going forward because about all Derek Fisher can do is foul Deron Williams. Williams torched them for 17 points in the first quarter.
I can't wait for game 2 because, despite the way the Lakers played, the Jazz had a chance to win at the end of the game. They were actually up 4 late in the fourth before Kobe took over the game.
