As the final buzzer sounded and the last shot missed, I felt great relief on my part.

The final score, 93-91 Lakers. That didn’t tell the whole story of the game.

The late scoring flurry plus the missed shots and free throws of the Los Angeles Lakers helped the defending Champions climb back from a 7-point deficit and cut the lead to 2 with 28 seconds remaining.

The Lakers were leading the whole game thanks to a 22-8 start. But bad calls after another helped the Spurs climb back to within 5 points after the 1st quarter. Thet were playing their backs against the wall but were still up by 53-47 at the half. Anything that could possibly go wrong had happened for these young LA Squad. There were 4 offensive fouls called, 3 travels, Ticky-tack fouls that resulted to Lamar Odom and Derek Fisher having 3 fouls before halftime.

You just couldn’t stop LA.

With all these, they managed to put a dagger on the NBA’s ruling Dynasty and make a statement : We are the team to beat.

A fews days ago, these young upstarts had bowed down to the San Antonio Spurs, taking the ruthless 103-84 beating. Lamar Odom, Derek Fisher, and Pau Gasol combined for 10-for-33 shooting with a total of 24 points and 6 turnovers. Luke Walton, Ronny Turiaf, Vladimir Radmanovic, and Sasha Vujacic combined for only 18 points, attempting only 15 shots. They were waiting for Kobe Bryant to save them. They were waiting for “Mr. MVP” to bail them out of this deep hole they were in. But that has not been the case for the whole season. They were playing team basketball all year long and they were not afraid to take those “big shots” down the stretch. Their gritty D didn’t show up as it did on Games 1 & 2. They had 13 assists and 13 turnovers. Last year, these inexperienced (take away D-Fish and KB24) group of ballers would have fold after a game like this. They will let their hearts be beat by their minds and say “We can’t do it. Let’s just give up”. But, what a difference a year makes. Especially, when you get the best player in the world to trust you.

In Game 4, we saw a different Los Angeles Lakers compared to Game 3. We saw the real Lakers squad that had been playing unselfishly all year long.

They were fierce. They were outhustling their opponents and forcing them to commit turnovers. They were scoring at will and it seemed that even the Spurs’ pride couldn’t stop them from doing what they’re supposed to do : beat SA like any other team. Like any other young team in the NBA, they would have folded in Game 4 after being humiliated in the road. But unlike any other young team in the league, they have the best player on the floor today, Kobe Bryant and they have the heart of the champions.

“It is a big step for us”, said Kobe Bryant.

Yes, he’s talking about his young team, and that big step took them closer to the ultimate goal : The Larry O’Brien Trophy, otherwise known as the NBA Championship Trophy.