Ladies and gentlemen, we did it. Our Los Angeles Lakers are once again headed to the NBA Finals after beating the Denver Nuggets to become the Western Conference Champions. It was a tough road, facing worthy opponents such as Utah, Houston and Denver, but Friday night at Denver, we showed that we were truly worthy of holdin/g that trophy, playing the best we had all post season. It was a consistent win, outscoring the Nuggets each quarter, and each starter and player off the bench had something to offer.

The game started out with the regular five: Andrew Bynum (now seeing more time and starting to play at least a little more consistently), Trevor Ariza, Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher. Gasol put the first points on the board with a hook shot, and Trevor Ariza followed with one of many three-point shots.

The first points for Denver came with 9:00 to go, when Carmelo Anthony made both of his free throws. The entire first quarter consisted of the Lakers scoring in as many ways as possible, and the Nuggets trying to catch up. Needless to say, it wasn’t working. The score at the end of the first was 25-20, Lakers.

Sasha came in at the start of the second with a bang. As soon as he got the ball, he threw up a nice looking three, with a dish from Jordan Farmar. After a team timeout, though, he went back out for Andrew Bynum. Soon after, Luke Walton hit a fade away, Odom hooked it in and Fisher drilled a three. The Machine’s three seemed to give everyone drive throughout the rest of the quarter.

Bryant then went on a streak of jump shots, interrupted by a three from Trevor Ariza. To top off the second quarter, Gasol dunked it, then seconds later rebounded it and dished it to Kobe, who made a three, sending the score to 53-40, Lakers.

Like the first two quarters preceding it, the third quarter was also a success for the Lakers. Kobe started off the scoring streak with a technical free throw, Bynum dunked it, thanks to Pau Gasol, Kobe hit one of his famous jump shots, Gasol knocked it in twice in a row, Walton hit a jumper, and Kobe banked it in. Sasha came in soon after, with 1:31 to go, and was quickly fouled, twice. He went to the charity stripe and drilled all four of his free throws, ending the quarter with Lakers 83, Nuggets 67.

The fourth quarter mainly consisted of the Lakers wiping the floor with the Nuggets. The Nuggets tried to come back a few times, but it would be thwarted with a Walton dunk, Odom three, or even free throws, which seemed to be plenty. Sasha came in with 1:36 left to go to end the game, and his last stat of the night was a rebound with 24 seconds to go to end the game. The Lakers won, 119-92. It was beautiful.

Sasha had a really good game in limited minutes, and Machine fans everywhere can be proud of their favorite player. He played 6:54 of the game, but had a key three-pointer to give the Lakers even more motivation. He hit all four of his free throws, and had an offensive rebound. He finished with seven points, the third most on the bench. We can’t wait to see you in the Finals, Sasha!

Headband Watch: Thin Black