Jmart wrote:
When did the NBA start letting the visiting team do the championship ceremony on the home team's floor? From what I can remember it was always in the locker room if the visiting team won.
And congrats to the Lakers. They absolutely dominated in the last two rounds. I think it might have been a different story if Garnett hadn't gone down, but that's a normal part of the game. The Lakers stayed the healthiest and with the talent they had they were going to be extremely tough to beat. If the two teams stay healthy I don't see how it could be anyone except the Celtics and the Lakers in the finals. I don't think the Cavs get there even if they pull off the deal for Shaq and I don't see anyone else coming out of the West unless the Hornets and Nuggets mature very rapidly.
As for the Magic? See you in another five to fifteen. With Dwight they'll be around, but they need another presence inside if they want to win the whole thing.
Dominated?
Yes, they beat the Nuggets in six games, but what game did they dominate besides the 6th one? You could possibly throw in the 4th quarter of game 5, but that's it. The Nuggets literally threw away two games (I think game 4 for the Magic in the Finals feels like game 1 for the Nuggets in the conf. champ) and the other games were very competitive and close. Even though the Rockets series went to 7 games, the wins for the Lakers in that series were by much wider margins and weren't close at all.
And not withstanding the first and last games, the Magic did take the Lakers to overtime twice. Obviously the Lakers were the better team, but I wouldn't say they absolutely dominated.
Also, no one has mentioned it, but what guarentee is there that Ariza and Odom stay (besides the fact Odom wants to live by a beach)? The Lakers may lose some key components as well. With Kobe and Gasol they're still one of the top teams in the league, but their other pieces are what helped win this championship.
