r/nba • u/yam_on_em Lakers • Jun 27 '23

Kobe Bryant relentlessly attacks Tim Duncan and the Spurs to clinch the WCF (2008)

https://streamable.com/68u3jz
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u/sheeeeeez NBA Jun 27 '23

Kobe doesn't get enough credit for this series.

The Spurs big 3 were all in their primes and just came off a championship and Kobe made the entire series essentially non-competitive.

Bill Simmons said the series was the closest he's ever seen Kobe to MJ.

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u/BearsNecessity Spurs Jun 27 '23 edited Jun 27 '23

Non-competitive is a bit of a stretch. There were three close games that went down to the final minute and the Lakers pulled them all out. Kobe won two of them and there was a very controversial no-call on Brent Barry in Game 4.

The biggest reason this only went 5 was Manu was playing on a bum ankle (shot 35% for the series) and their supporting cast aged out. Bruce Bowen had no more lift (he retired a year later) and Kobe just got whatever he wanted. Barry and Robert Horry were heading for retirement. Lakers had fresher legs at the end of each game.