When it all boils down the San Antonio Spurs caught too much of Kobe Bryant when the game mattered most down the stretch in this series, and now as the sun rises today on a new day the Spurs season is over.  Complete.  There will be no encore.

Bryant was able to score 10 of his 26 points in the final quarter, the Lakers also holding Tim Duncan to two buckets over the final 20 minutes of the game to claim the best of seven series 4-1.  The Spurs had their chances in each of the four losses, but the team who wins four games is the one who progresses and not the one who had an excuse.

"The Lakers played like champions in the last four or five minutes of every game we played," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "They took the series."