Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers have once again won at Staples Center extending the NBA Finals to a minimum five games. The Boston Celtics won the first two games at home and lost last night in what was a great battle from beginning to end by both teams.

Kobe Bryant was the MVP of the night and easily the best player on the floor. He finished with 36 points and 7 rebounds in 45 minutes of play. Kobe played like a true champion from the initial tip driving to the basket time after time going into the Celtics defense and breaking down whatever stood in his way. After a pathetic game two in Boston in which the entire Lakers team shot 10 free throws, Kobe Bryant accumulated 18 free throws on his own. Of course, now that they finally had the free throws they missed a bunch of them, even Kobe managed to miss 7, but hey, it led to a 6 point win and a 2-1 series.

This series has many factors in it. The defense of Boston has been simply superb thus far and hasn’t given the Lakers any chance at easy baskets. The Celtics are a very strong team with a powerful frontline including the likes of Kevin Garnett, Kendrick Perkins, Leon Powe, and even PJ Brown (who almost got jumped by Jordan Farmar last night). The Lakers frontline is very weak and full of finesse players that are afraid of contact. Pau Gasol has the ultimate touch in the paint and Lamar Odom’s history of injuries has turned his big body into a fragile one that is afraid of being hit too hard.

Lucky for the soft Lakers, they’ve got Kobe Bryant. The same Kobe Bryant that is known for one thing, and one thing only, that look in his eyes. If you ever get the chance to just focus in on Kobe at crunch time when the game/season is on the line, notice the look on his face and the ambition that goes into every play. You can just tell that he will do whatever it takes to get the win. Also lucky for the Lakers, the Staples Center crowd helped the bench finally contribute something of substance.

On a night when no other Lakers starter besides Kobe scored in double digits, they needed someone that would step up when it mattered from the bench. Who would that someone be? None other than The Machine himself, Sasha Vujacic. Vujacic has really developed into a superb shooter this season leading the Lakers with 44% three point shooting for the season and a stunning 55% during the Boston series. After struggling from beyond the arc against San Antonio shooting just 31%, Sasha has rebounded, as most heartless shooters do, and takes every open shot, and some contested shots, to contribute to this Lakers team.

Vujacic was the second leading scorer, and really the only other scorer on the team for this game, finishing with 20 points on 7 for 10 shooting and 4 rebounds. Not only is Sasha’s offense just amazing off the bench, but his defense is something to be discussed as well. The Lakers only have one pesky defender. That kind of guy that will get under his opponents skin and do whatever it takes to drive them absolutley insane. The kind of guy that doesn’t care how a game is being called, he’s still going to drop his croch on the offensive players thighs and give him absolutely no room to breathe. In this series, Sasha has been guarding either Paul Pierce or Ray Allen. Pau Pierce had his worst game thus far last night and we can thank Sasha and Kobe for their defensive pressure.

This game was won by a score of 87-81 by the Los Angeles Lakers. I strongly believe that this game was won before the game even started by Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson. After seeing both Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce go off for two consecutive big games in Boston, it was time for a change. What would that change be, it would be the most interesting we’ve seen so far, and it worked. It was simply brilliant.

Phil Jackson created a mismatch switch by moving Kobe Bryant over on Rondo and Derek Fisher over to Ray Allen. How did Allen do last night? Well he was the only one that played well, but even when he plays well, he’s not the type of guy that can lead a team to victory on his own. While there is lots of talk about Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett shooting a combined 8-35, Rondo being contained had a lot to do with it. After dishing out 16 assists in game two in Boston, Rondo finished game three at Staples Center, with the floating Kobe Bryant on the defensive end guarding him with a lousy 8 points on 4-8 shooting (not bad) and only 4 assists. Kobe Bryant has long been known as a great defender but his key to success is really his ability to float and recognize where the offense is going. By taking Kobe off of proven shoote Ray Allen and allowing him to float a bit more off a guy that is young and insecure about shooting much on a team with three superstars, Kobe has the ability to create problems. And he did. Boston shot a combined 35% for the game and only scored 81 points.

The 2nd and 4th quarters were the strong ones for the Lakers as they seem to finally have learned that it’s important to close out nicely. Obviously they have struggled in keeping games competitive because of their mistakes in the 3rd quarter creating too big of a deficit to overcome in the 4th.

Now that the Lakers have matured in these three games against the team with the most regular season wins and most amount of over rated players, they have a chance to win two more games at Staples Center before they head back to beantown. Going out to Boston with a 3-2 lead is essentially the Lakers only chance at winning this series and it will be interesting to see how mentally strong this Lakers team is and whether they are ready do go after the older Boston Celtics.