Lakers' road rules lead to repeat title

— -- PHILADELPHIA -- Turns out, Kobe Bryant was all wrong. The road to the NBA championship didn't go through Los Angeles after all.

Bryant's Lakers never even had to leave the City of Brotherly Love to successfully defend their crown because the path to postseason history went straight through the First Union Center -- and the Liberty Bell-sized hearts of the Philadelphia 76ers -- in a title-clinching 108-96 victory Friday night in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

In repeating as world champs, the Lakers recorded the best winningpercentage in postseason history at .937 with a 15-1 mark. Ironically, theprevious mark was held by Philadelphia's last NBA champion, the Julius Erving-led 1983 Sixers who went 12-1 (.923).

In becoming the first team to go unbeaten on the road, the Lakers set the record for consecutive road wins in one postesason with eight, topping the 1995 Houston Rockets' seven.

"You can never line up and play those teams (from the past)," said forward Rick Fox in trying to assess the 2000-01 Lakers' place in history. "But we have an argument because of the way we performed in the playoffs."

"We've got to be at the top of the best. I mean, no one has ever gone 15-1," bragged backup guard Tyronn Lue. "No team ever went 8-0 on the road, so I think this team definitely ranks with the best teams in NBA history."

O'Neal clinched the MVP award with 29 points and 13 rebounds, but it wasDerek Fisher's 3-point bombing that completed the repeat. The point guard, who had 18 points, sank his sixth 3-pointer of the night with 51.4 seconds left to ruin anotherlate Philadelphia rally.

For the game, the Lakers made 12 of 17 threes, with Fox (20 points) going 3-for-3 and Bryant 2-for-3 in adding 26 points. Philadelphia made just four of 15 threes in shooting 41.1 percent (37-of-90) from the field.

"Winning a first championship is like a honeymoon. You just have to prove to everybody that we could do it," said Bryant, who also had 12 rebounds and six assists. "This time around, we went through so much adversity, so many ups and downs. It feels good to win it."