The World Series.  It is a dream for all young baseball players, a dream that goes unrealized for almost everyone of them.  The Rays did something that nobody thought was possible, and I include the Rays players and management too, they made it to the series.  In only their tenth year of existence, and what makes it even more remarkable, is the fact that they finished dead last every other year.  Until this year, 2008, the magic year when everything finally came together.  Think about this- the Cubs have not gone to a series in 50 years or so and have not won a championship in over a hundred years.  This will be the third time in 11 years that an expansion team from Florida plays for the title.  Just something to think about.  Also another thing that makes this series compelling is the match-up.  Not just the players on the field, but the cities they represent.  Once again Tampa has to go through a Philly team to win the championship.  In 2003 the Bucs had to beat the eagles to go to the superbowl and the next year the Lightning had to beat the Flyers to go to the Stanley Cup finals.  It almost seems like destiny that the rays will have to beat the Phillies for their championship.  Which will happen.

With 6 minutes left in the game and Pierce’s (who had 38 points) apparent travel, he was able to pass the ball off to Posey to hit a big three to cut the lead down to just 4. The Celtics tied the game at 90-90 with 4:30 left in the game. After that point, the Lakers took control and never looked back again. They nailed their free throws down the stretch and defeated the Boston Celtics 103-98.

After the Lakers were up 58-40 at halftime, it looked like they were going to tie the series up 2-2. But the Celtics knew it was far from over. Down as much as 24 points, the Boston Celtics rallied back to win game 4 by a score of 97-91. They now lead the series 3-1 and are one game away from claiming the NBA championship.

Kobe Bryant finished the game 12-for-20 shooting and 36 points to push the Lakers past the Celtics in the pivotal game 3. The Celtics now lead the series 2-1. Sasha Vujacic added 20 poitns for the Lakers and hit a big three with 1:53 left in the game to lead 81-76. The final score was the Lakers 87 and the Celtics with 81.

Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics defeated the Lakes tonight 108-102 to take a 2-0 lead in the NBA Finals series.  Leon Powe was the player of the game from scoring 21 points in only 15 minutes for the Celtics. Kobe Bryant’s 30 points and 8 assists wasn’t enough to give his team the win.

The Lakers led at half-time but the Boston Celtics had a great second half to outscore the Lakers 98-88 to claim Game 1 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics main stars all shined tonight to lead them in the victory. Garnett lead the team with 24 points, Pierce followed with 22 and Ray Allen had 19 points. The next matchup is on Sunday (6/08/08).

Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs tonight to win the series 4-1 overall to get into the NBA Finals. Even though Tim Duncan had a triple-double (19 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists), it wasn’t enough to beat the Lakers. Kobe Bryant finished with a game-high 39 points and helped his team defeat the Spurs 100-92. The Lakers move on to the Finals and are 21-3 in their last 24 home playoff games.