Woot! Folks here in LA are celebratin’ today that their beloved LA Lakers came back from a 3-1 deficit in the 2008 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics and won Game 5 of the championship series at the Staples Center here in downtown LA last night. After their disappointing performance in Game 4, many naysayers were predicting that Boston would win last night’s game and send the Lakers home empty-handed and they would be taking the championship trophy with them back East to Boston … but the Lakers woke up, played like they’ve been playing all season long and pulled out another win, bringing the series tally to 3-2:

Pack up the championship trophy and book a flight back to Boston, the NBA finals aren’t over yet. The Los Angeles Lakers are headed East to try a historic comeback of their own. Kobe Bryant scored 25 points, including a decisive dunk in the final minute — and Lamar Odom added 20 as the Lakers, playing with pride on their star-studded stage, prevented the Celtics from winning a 17th title with a 103-98 win in Game 5 on Sunday night to close to 3-2 in this restored rivalry. No team has overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals to win a title. The first 28 failed, and now the Lakers, who blew a 24-point lead and lost Game 4 and nearly squandered a 19-point lead in Game 5, have a chance to do something extraordinary. They’ll have to win on the Celtics’ parquet floor Tuesday night to force a winner-take-all Game 7, where anything is possible … The Lakers needed to hold on to set up a Game 6 on Tuesday night back in Boston. A Celtics victory would give them 17 championships, and the first for their trio of Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

Of course, the Lakers faithful showed up in full force at the Staples Center last night … Including LA’s biggest fan of all … (more…)

Welp … despite making a comeback in Game 3 of the NBA Finals the LA Lakers fell to the Boston Celtics in Game 4 at the Staples Center here in LA last night … leaving the boys from Boston only one game away from the 2008 NBA Championship. Gameplay by the Lakers wasn’t able to get the job done … and praying didn’t help either:

Kobe Bryant realizes the Los Angeles Lakers are in deep trouble. He believes there’s only one reasonable way to approach such a grim situation. “I’m not thinking about beating them three straight,” Bryant said after the Lakers collapsed in the last 18 minutes Thursday night, resulting in a 97-91 loss to the Boston Celtics that put them on the brink of elimination from the NBA finals. “We’re thinking about beating them on Sunday,” Bryant said. “Then, you move on from there. Take one swing at a time to chop down a tree. We’ll take care of business on Sunday.” The Lakers led by as many as 24 points in the second quarter and by 20 midway through the third before the Celtics began one of the biggest comebacks in finals history to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the comeback was the biggest in the finals since 1971, surpassing Houston’s comeback from a 20-point deficit to Orlando in the first game of the 1995 finals. The odds are stacked heavily against the Lakers. For one thing, no team has ever overcome a 3-1 deficit to win the finals. For another, they’ve got to win Sunday night at Staples Center and then win twice in Boston, where the Celtics have a 12-1 postseason record. “We let a huge opportunity slip away, so I’m upset, hurt, disappointed,” Bryant said. “It’s a huge loss, no doubt about it. We’ve got to take the good things that we did well in this game, understand what we did wrong in the third quarter and move on from there. They played great in the third quarter. We played like crap.” After two free throws by Vladimir Radmanovic with 6:04 left in the third quarter gave the Lakers a 70-50 lead, they were outscored 47-21 to finish the game. It all started with a 21-3 run to finish the third period … Lakers coach Phil Jackson said his players were “very depressed” after the game. He said he told them the series isn’t over. “They’re resilient. They have disappointments, they come back,” Jackson said. “It’s about team effort now, we have to make sure that we have a good collective energy again, come out and play that first half like we did before. “Our back is against the wall, but it’s just a game at a time, and that’s one thing we have to understand.”

HMMM … well, I suppose it’s possible that if the Celtics can come back from such a huge point deficit like they did last night than it’s possible that the Lakers can come back from a 3-1 deficit … right? Yeah, keep prayin’ Becks and we’ll see if that actually happens.

Anyways, here are a few pics of some of the celebs who came out to cheer for their favorite team last night …

… whether it be the Donnie Wahlberg for the Celtics or Ice Cube for the Lakers the celebs seem happy to be cheering on their team (especially the Boston fans). Game 5 goes down in Bean Town on Sunday night. I’m rootin’ for the Lakers but I’ve got mad respect for the Celtics. May the best team win.

[Photo credit: Splash News, Source, Source]