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Y E S T E R D A Y…

Lakers 100, Spurs 92: The Lakers jumped on Kobe Bryant’s back and overcame a 17-point second quarter deficit to win the Western Conference championship, four games to one. San Antonio had no answer for Bryant who dribbled through nearly every Spur on his way to a 39-point effort. While it was happening, you could see the hunger in the faces of the Lakers… when it was over, you could see some surprise at how far they’ve come. Given where they were a year ago, it was a little shocking to see the Lakers wearing W.C. championship gear, but the reality of it all is this: the Lakers are going to the NBA Finals.

Mets 8, Dodgers 4: The fans in New York welcomed Joe Torre back with applause, but the Mets put nostalgia aside and handed the Dodgers their fourth straight loss. Brad Penny struggled, giving up six runs and eight hits in four innings, dropping his career mark at Shea to a frightening 1-10. David Wright imposed his will, belting two home runs (remember those?) putting the Blue in a 6-0 hole they couldn’t climb out of. Perhaps a little local knowledge can work for Torre as the Blue look to salvage the remaining three games of the set.

T O D A Y…

Toronto at Angels (7:05 p.m. PST, FSN): The Angels have been finding ways to win despite a modest offense, but they’ll be put to the test against a very good Blue Jays pitching corps (and an offense that suddenly can hit a little). Jared Weaver, flush with confidence after going 2-0 with a 0.89 ERA in his last three starts, gets the ball for LAAoA, while Toronto sends Dustin McGowan, who gave up only one run in seven innings in his last start against Kansas City, but has lost all three of his career starts against the Angels.

Dodgers at Mets (4:10 p.m. PST, KCAL): Clayton Kershaw, LA’s most talked about lefty since Koufax, will get his second career start. After giving up just two earned runs Sunday against the Cardinals, Kershaw was praised both for his impressive repertoire of pitches and calm under pressure. He’ll need both against a Mets team that has run up 20 runs over its last three games. The Mets will start John Maine, who has lost two straight.

N E W S W O R T H Y…

• Clayton Kershaw doesn’t need a lucky jersey number, but he’ll take it.
• The Angels have faith in Brandon Wood.
• Perhaps more than any of his teammates, Casey Kotchman is producing for the Angels.
• Pau Gasol’s rebounding made the difference in game 5.
• NBA apologizes over the Brent Barry no-call, but it makes no difference now.
• OJ Mayo was “overwhelmed” by the allegations of misconduct made against him.

C O L U M N S…

• The Spurs were the defending champs until last night, but Gregg Patton of the Press Enterprise says that there is no question who was in control of this series. And while the Spurs managed to win Game 3, all the important questions about the Western Conference Finals were put to rest when the Lakers conquered a 20-point deficit to win Game 1.
• Steve Dilbeck of the Daily News believes that the Lakers should be looking at the bigger prize. Kobe certainly is.
• SportsHubLA.com Column’s of the Day: Bill Plaschke asks the most important question about the Lakers, How did this happen? How did the Lakers go from a bunch of arguing youngsters to a championship bound team? His answer? All they did was win. The Lakers made it to where they are now because every player on the team believed that if they seized what was available to them, there would be no limit to what they could accomplish. Plaschke wrote what everyone writing about the Lakers Friday should- that LA made no excuses, that they owned up, stepped up, got it done and made all the critics stand and bow humbly. Finally a writer is willing to look “soft” and heap on some credit where it is due.

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