Basketball Championships

Lakers forward Trevor Ariza was scoreless in the first half Thursday. He was playing as poorly as the Lakers, who trailed the Orlando Magic at halftime, 49-37. Then came the third quarter. Ariza had 13 points in the quarter, making two three-point baskets and five of six shots overall, as the Lakers outscored the Magic, 30-14, and went on to a 99-91 overtime victory. "Trevor came out and just found something out there," Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

You can never predict how physical a playoff series is going to be. After being involved in conference finals matchups that featured lots of physical play and high numbers of hard personal and technical fouls, the Finals have been a lot more about finesse for the Magic and Lakers. While it could be a product of referees being more prudent in blowing the whistles for the Finals, the fouls numbers entering Game 4 seemed to suggest that both teams have avoided the rough stuff this series.

Typical Fish. At the end of the most indelible game of his enduring Lakers career, Derek Fisher disappeared. He was swallowed by the long limbs of Lamar Odom, the long embrace of Andrew Bynum, the long hair of Sasha Vujacic. His bald head was hidden in somebody's warmup jacket. His short arms were wrapped in somebody's giant ones.

We probably won't know who has been actually coaching the Lakers this series until Phil's next book is published. Right now the best we can do is offer congrats to Coach Phil & Coach Kobe and thanks to the Magic for playing as if it has never been coached to win a big game. The guy coaching the Magic was so outclassed against the likes of Coaches Phil & Kobe, he was playing a rusty Jameer Nelson with the game on the line.

Charles Barkley played for three teams (Philadelphia, Phoenix and Houston) over his 16-year career, was an 11-time All-Star, All-Star game most valuable player and league MVP, and averaged 22.1 points and 11.7 rebounds over his career. He covered the NBA Finals for NBA TV and is serving as a guest columnist for the Orlando Sentinel and Los Angeles Times: -- The Orlando Magic had no chance of winning Sunday. Orlando was going to lose Game 5.

Yeah, right, as if these guys are going to miss a chance to let down, and put anyone away on their first try. So, it was no surprise to see the Magic jump on the Lakers in Sunday night's first quarter, scoring 15 of the game's first 21 points en route to. . . . Oh, the Lakers won? Are they great or what?

During the Game 5 pregame festivities Sunday, there was a montage of the Orlando Magic's playoff run playing on the scoreboard above the Amway Arena court. Included were all of Orlando's moments of triumph and survival on its way to the NBA Finals, set to the backdrop of Van Halen's classic rally track "Right Now." It was a fitting song choice.

Kobe Bryant scratched at it until it bled. Derek Fisher clawed at it until it hurt. The rest of them dug and dug until it finally, willfully, wonderfully disappeared. The Lakers' seven-year itch is gone. Awash in relief and redemption, Los Angeles' cornerstone sports franchise is once again champion of the NBA.

The Lakers won. Yippee, hooray for them and all that stuff. Phil now has more rings than Red, like any of us could sleep waiting for this moment, while Jeanie continues searching for her ring, but then that's tweet for another day. Kobe did it without Shaq, because he had Pau. Sasha did it without ever making a shot in the Finals.

As the mood of the crowd outside the Staples Center turned quickly from jubilation over a Lakers victory to something more destructive, Los Angeles police knew they had to finely calibrate their response to avoid the public relations debacles of the department's recent past. Officers had to control a group of "knuckleheads," in the words of Los Angeles Police Chief William J.