won the Finals in the preceding year, the team management wasted no time in making changes to the roster. Their most notable offseason player change was when Trevor Ariza departed to the Houston Rockets and was replaced by free agent Ron Artest. Longtime assistant coach and former head coach Kurt Rambis left the organization to pursue a head coaching opportunity with the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers finished the regular season as the Pacific Division champion, compiling a 57–25 record. On February 1, Kobe Bryant moved past Jerry West into 14th place on the NBA's career scoring list. He also surpassed West to become the Lakers franchise scoring leader. As the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, they eliminated the No. 8 seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in six games during the Western Conference First Round Playoffs, with the final game ending when Kobe Bryant missed a jumper but Pau Gasol grabbed the offensive rebound and made a layup to clinch the win. Then in the Western Conference Semifinals, Los Angeles swept the Utah Jazz in four games, earning their right to play in their third straight Western Conference Final. In the Western Conference Finals against the Phoenix Suns, the Lakers won both of their first two games at home, but proceeded to lose the next two in Phoenix both by 9 points. In Game 5, Ron Artest made an off balance layup to beat the buzzer off a Kobe Bryant miss to give the Lakers the victory. The Lakers then proceeded to beat the Suns on their home floor in Game 6 led by Kobe Bryant's 37 points. The Game 6 victory gave the Lakers their 31st NBA Finals appearance in franchise history. The team also earned their third straight appearance in the Finals, the last team to do so being the Los Angeles Lakers themselves (during the three-peat of –). Game summaries All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC−4). If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given. Game 1 Both teams started strong, playing a close game for most of the 1st quarter until a 7–2 Los Angeles run inspired by bench players Jordan Farmar and Shannon Brown to end the quarter. Boston again started the 2nd quarter strong. However, Los Angeles managed to extend the lead 50–41 at the end of the first half with another run led by