First the New Orleans Hornets and then the San Antonio Spurs…

The Los Angeles Lakers have completed the final test of the season. With so many things on the line heading into this weekend, the Lakers were prepared for the ultimate test. The Hornets flew into Los Angeles to face the Lakers on Friday and make an attempt at not only making the Western Conference race just a little bit more exciting, but also at promoting the MVP candidacy of Kobe Bryant. The game was a statement game, and the Lakers made sure everyone knew they were for real.

The entire team came out strong right off the bat and by middle of the 2nd quarter, the lead was up to 30. Halftime showed the Lakers up by 25, and the game slipped slowly as the clock continued to tick each quarter. By the 4th, the Hornets were back in it and ready to make the final push. Unfortunately for them, the Lakers were ready to go as well and finished the game off nicely with a few defensive stops in the most vital moments. Kobe Bryant finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists out dueling Chris Paul although he had a mighty 17 assists.

With the win the Lakers were only 1/2 game behind the Hornets, based on one more loss, they split the season series 2-2, and Kobe quite possibly secured his title as the Most Valuable Player of the 2007-2008 regular season.

Next: The San Antonio Spurs fly into Los Angeles to try and take over the Western Conference. The New Orleans Hornets surrendered the #1 spot to the Lakers after playing the 2nd game of their back to back and going down to the Sacramento Kings. It was an unexpected loss to the Kings, but us Lakers fans love to see these upsets so deep into the season.

The game was nationally televised on ABC and everyone was talking about it. This was Kobe’s final chance to prove he’s the MVP and Tim Duncan had one more chance to show that he’s still the dominant man in the NBA. Either way you look at it, only one man can prove his case and that was once again, Kobe Bryant.

Kobe finished with a boring 20-5-5 and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the visiting San Antonio Spurs 106-85. The game was tied at halftime, then the Lakers decided they would play some defense and held the Spurs to just 14 points in the third quarter.

With an amazing showing against the two top teams in the West, besides the Lakers themselves, we are obviously ready to dominate the playoffs. It’s unfortunate that Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza are not ready to return, and potentially won’t until late into the playoffs if they return at all this season. Pau Gasol has done an excellent job in proving that he is as dominant is he was made out to be. I am quite impressed by how versatile his game has been recently and I’m glad to see the Lakers excited about playing.

Bottom line:

Kobe Bryant will be the 2007-2008 National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player

The Los Angeles Lakers will go into the playoffs as the #1 seed of the Western Conference (If they can beat the Kings on Tuesday at home of course)!!!

Lakers - Celtics finals campaign starts NOW!!