Bryant makes it look so easy

PHOENIX // Kobe Bryant is again showing what post-season greatness can be. Bryant and his Los Angeles Lakers are in the NBA finals for the third straight season after he wrapped up a magnificent Western Conference finals with a 37-point performance in a series-clinching 111-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night.

"Kobe's so good," Lamar Odom, his teammate, said, "he makes incredible normal for us." Ron Artest added 25 points as the Lakers held off a late Phoenix rally to win the series 4-2. The Lakers and Celtics, the NBA's premier teams for much of the league's history, will meet in the finals for the 12th time with Game 1 on Thursday night in Los Angeles. They are the NBA champions each of the past two years - Boston beat the Lakers two years ago, and Los Angeles topped Orlando last season.

"We'll see how much we matured," Bryant said. "They challenged us extremely well in the finals a couple of years ago. Now is a chance to see how much we've grown." Bryant scored nine points in the final two minutes, including what looked like an impossible 23-footer with Grant Hill in his face and 34 seconds to play. The basket put Los Angeles up 107-100 and the scrappy Suns were finished. "Those aren't shooters' shots, they're scorers' shots," said Phoenix's Steve Nash. "Those are best-player-in-the-game type shots."

Bryant will be in his seventh NBA finals in search of his fifth championship MVP title. Amare Stoudemire, in what may have been his last game with the Suns, scored 27 points but struggled to a 7-of-20 shooting night. He can opt out of the final year of his contract and has said chances are "50-50" that he will play elsewhere next season. "I'm not sure what the future holds right now," he said, "so I'm just going to take a couple of days, enjoy the family and enjoy the rest and start figuring out the next move."

Nash, who had promised his team would win the sixth game of the series after their near-miss in the fifth, added 21 points and nine assists in his 118th play-off game, the most for anyone who has never reached the finals. The 36-year-old point guard praised his team, who at the season's start were expected to be fortunate to even make the play-offs. "You might say we overachieved," he said, "but we're a good team."

Bryant, with his 10th 30-point performance in his last 11 post-season games, moved ahead of Jerry West and into a tie with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second-most 30-point play-off games at 75. He has a long way to go for the record of 109, held by Michael Jordan. Bryant also extended his NBA record to eight straight 30-point closeout games on the road. "I always thought he was the best player in basketball," said Alvin Gentry, the Phoenix coach.

"Kobe was the man tonight," said Phil Jackson, the Lakers coach, who will be in search of his 11th NBA championship, and his fifth with the Lakers. * AP