Los Angeles Lakers 2010 NBA Finals Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Los Angeles Lakers 2010 NBA Finals Series Blu-ray Movie Review

The Purple and Yellow goes Blu.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 22, 2010

Lakers. Celtics. What else is there to say? It's an age-old rivalry that goes back to the teams' first Finals meeting in the 1959 season when the Lakers still hailed from Minneapolis, the late Red Auerbach coached the guys in green, and players like Bill Russell and Elgin Baylor dominated the hardwood long before the glory era of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson in the 1980s and decades before players like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett were even alive. Lakers-Celtics is one of sports' greatest rivalries and certainly the fiercest and most beloved in the NBA, and while Boston has historically dominated over the years -- winning nine of the previous eleven Finals series prior to the 2010 extravaganza, including a tough six-game series in 2008 that saw the two teams stacked with much of the same top-level talent that would again face off in 2010 -- this matchup would go to the Lakers, earning Hall of Fame Head Coach Phil Jackson his 11th ring and his fifth with the Lakers, five championships for which franchise superstar Kobe Bryant has been a centerpiece player. Many wondered if Bryant could emerge from the shadows of the towering figure that is Shaquille O'Neal when the 7'1" center left Los Angeles to take his talents to South Beach for the 2004 season, but Bryant proved the naysayers wrong, even if it did take a few years for him to win his first League MVP award in 2008 and carry the franchise to back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. Bryant and the Lakers in 2010 dispatched Kevin Durant and the upstart Oklahoma City Thunder in a surprisingly close 6-game series before sweeping Jerry Sloan's Utah Jazz in four and ousting Steven Nash and the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Finals. Meanwhile, the Celtics' three-headed monster called Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett eliminated the East's three powerhouse teams -- Dwayne Wade's Heat, LeBron's Cavs, and Howard's Magic -- en route to their 21st Finals appearance.

Showtime.

The 2010 NBA finals opened in Los Angeles' Staples Center; the Western Conference champs earned home court advantage by securing a regular season winning percentage of just under .700, allowing them to host the first two and, if necessary, the final two games of the best-of-seven series. Boston entered the Finals red hot; though they won seven fewer games than the Lake Show in the regular season, the fourth-seeded C's cruised through the playoffs, ousting the fifth-seeded Heat in five; the league's best regular-season team, Cleveland, in six; and the talented two-seed Orlando Magic in six. Game won saw Kobe Bryant net 30 points to counter Paul Pierce's 24. The Lakers entered halftime with a 50-41 lead and extended that nine-point cushion in the third by outscoring the Celtics 34-23, including a 15-4 run and securing a big lead entering into the final 12 minutes of play. The Celtics made a game of it but ultimately fell short, losing game one 102-89. The Celtics didn't stay down for long. Even with three days to mull over the loss, Doc Rivers' Boston club jumped out to a seven-point lead at the end of the first quarter of game two. The teams continued to exchange baskets at a fairly even clip through the next two quarters, but the Lakers chipped away at Boston's lead and closed out the first 36 minutes of play by resetting the game and going into the fourth quarter tied with their cross-country rivals at 72. Undeterred and unwilling to go home down 0-2, the Celtics outscored the Lakers 31-22 to secure a nine-point victory behind Ray Allen's eight three-pointers and 32 total points.

With the series shifting back to Boston for three straight and the teams squared away at one win apiece, the Celtics had wrested away home court advantage from the Lakers. Game three, held at Boston's TD Garden on June 8, 2010, saw the momentum once again swing back to Los Angeles. The Celtics led early but the Lakers stormed back from a seven-point deficit early in the game and would outscore Boston by an unusually wide margin in the following minutes and would take a 12-point lead into the locker room at half time, a lead Kobe and crew weren't about to relinquish. Though Boston would cut the deficit in half in the third quarter, the Lakers matched the guys in green and white point-for-point in the third, resulting in final score of Los Angeles 91, Boston 84. Game four began 48 hours later, and Boston once again rebounded after a defeat. A low-scoring first quarter saw Boston secure a 19-16 lead. The Lakers found their stroke in the second quarter and lit up the scoreboard to a tune of 29 points and a three-point halftime lead. That lead was stretched to four entering the fourth quarter, but Boston stormed back to score 36 points in the final 12 minutes of play. Paul Pierce's Celtics-high 19 points were dwarfed by Bryant's then-series high 33, but Boston's bench, led by Glen Davis' 18 points and Nate Robinson's 12, helped Boston pull away and, again, even the series at two games. The trend of the series -- the Lakers winning the odd-numbered games and the Celtics earning Ws in the even-numbed games -- called for a Lakers win in game five, but Boston wasn't about to let small sample-sized trends interfere with getting within a game of their second NBA title in three seasons. Game five saw the Celtics push out ahead of the Lakers by six at the half, a margin that would remain when the final buzzer sounded with Boston beating the Lakers 92-86 behind a double-double from big man Kevin Garnett and despite Kobe Bryant's 38-point heroics. Boston wouldn't win the title on their home court, but they needed only to repeat their performance in games one and two in Los Angeles -- a split -- to return home to Beantown with the NBA trophy in hand.

With the series back out in California and the NBA trophy in the house, the two teams prepared for battle. The Lakers weren't about to let Boston celebrate on their home court -- at least not without pushing the series to a winner-take-all game seven -- and Phil Jackson's squad stormed out of the gates to secure a daunting 10-point lead at the end of the first 12 minutes of play. Making matters worse, the Celtics were down a man when Kendrick Perkins was forced out of the game with an injury that would keep him out of the remainder of the series. The Lakers outscored Boston in each of the first three quarters, and while Boston's defense was able to hold down Kobe and the Lakers to 13 4th-quarter points, it wasn't enough, and the C's were dealt a hard, but not crippling, 22-point loss in game six. There's nothing better in sports than a seventh and deciding game, and when the two teams involved are the Lakers and the Celtics, it seems as if the world stops spinning and all eyes descend on the NBA for the win-or-go-home final tilt. Both teams played hard defense and kept scoring down; Boston managed to contain the Lakers to only 34 first-half points, but entered the final 24 minutes of play with a mere 6-point lead, hardly a cushion against the über-talented Los Angeles squad. Foul trouble plagued the Celtics; the Lakers stepped to the line twice as often as Boston and, despite a lackluster performance from future Hall-of-Famer Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson's squad eked out an 83-79 victory, the four-point win the slimmest of any of the seven games.

Los Angeles Lakers 2010 NBA Finals Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Los Angeles Lakers: 2010 NBA Finals Series delivers a proficient 1080i, 1.78:1-framed transfer that's seemingly identical to the original broadcast and typical of a modern-day high definition TV sports presentation. There's an array of visible but not particularly debilitating issues, such as ringing, aliasing, and some jagged edges, but the majority of the image features a smooth and crisp definition that lends itself well to the game of basketball. Colors are fairly bold and accurate, and this series features a myriad of bright hues, whether the Lakers' purple and yellow or the Celtics' green and white jerseys. The quality detailing allows viewers to make out the designs of player tattoos, the sweat that accumulates on their brows, the stitching in their jerseys, or the texture of the wood courts. The image is generally flat, and graphics look slightly soft and fuzzy. This is a steady but unremarkable image; it's practically identical to the TV broadcast, so anyone who is familiar with how basketball looks in high def knows what to expect with Image Entertainment's Blu-ray release.

Los Angeles Lakers 2010 NBA Finals Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

They don't get any more generic than this. Los Angeles Lakers: 2010 NBA Finals Series features a DTS-HD MA 2.0 lossless soundtrack that's squishy and lacking in flair. In-game play-by-play and color analysis courtesy of Mike Breen, Mark Jackson, and Jeff Van Gundy expectedly dominates the audio presentation and remains firmly centered up the middle; every syllable is clearly delivered and there are no problems with intelligibility, but the voices do sound flat and listless with every comment. Background music during breaks and while the game is on plays at a nice volume; it's audible and adds to the atmosphere but never covers up the commentary. Crowd applause and various chants, too, are audible without competing with the in-game analysis while emanating almost exclusively from the center channel. There's a crunchy, indistinct flavor to the chants and cheers. Officials' whistles are generally crisp but not ear-piercing or aggressively loud. Basically, this sounds just like the original broadcast; there are no revelations here, so fans familiar with a typical TV sports audio presentation know what to expect.

Los Angeles Lakers 2010 NBA Finals Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Los Angeles Lakers: 2010 NBA Finals Series features a fairly similar extras package on every disc. Disc one (games one and two) contains a "mini movie" accompanying both games (1080p, 4:50 & 5:56). These features offer some behind-the-scenes footage from the locker room, fan interviews, player arrivals, player sound bites, and film-quality game footage. These are dramatic and exciting, but far too short and thin in content. Disc one also contains scores by quarter for each game as well as basic team statistics for each game (field goals made and attempted, offensive and defensive rebounds, turnovers, blocks, and fouls). Disc two (games three and four) contains two more mini movies (1080p, 6:00 & 6:20) and the same brief score and statistics summaries. The third disc, which houses games five and six, once again contains scores and statistics and two more mini movies (1080p, 6:17 & 5:06). Finally, disc four (game seven) contains the requisite scores, statistics, and mini-movie (1080p, 8:12), as well as post-game press conferences (1080p) from all seven games, including for game one Doc Rivers, Phil Jackson, and Pau Gasol & Kobe Bryant; game two Doc Rivers, Phil Jackson, and Ray Allen; game three Phil Jackson, Doc Rivers, Derek Fisher, and Kobe Bryant; game four Doc Rivers, Kobe Bryant, Phil Jackson, and Nate Robinson & Glen Davis; game five Doc Rivers, Paul Pierce, Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett; game six Phil Jackson, Doc Rivers, Pau Gasol, and Kobe Bryant; and game seven Doc Rivers, Phil Jackson, Kobe Bryant, and Ron Artest.

Los Angeles Lakers 2010 NBA Finals Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Image Entertainment has delivered a fairly basic package for NBA fans with this collector's edition four-disc set of Los Angeles Lakers: 2010 NBA Finals Series. There's not much here other than the games as they aired on ESPN, some statistics that are easily found in the Internet, and various press conferences. The games come in high definition and without commercial interruption, of course, but it seems as if there's only a limited audience for a release such as this. Lakers fans and hardcore NBA enthusiasts are the likely targets. This is certainly a fine release and, hopefully, a harbinger of sports-themed releases to come, but an additional disc featuring a documentary-like overview of the Lakers season, their Western Conference postseason match-ups, and the longtime Celtics-Lakers rivalry would have been welcome additions and, perhaps, given this set a broader appeal. The "Mini Movies" help, but they're a bit thin in content. As it is, however, fans looking for a hard copy of the seven-game series need look no further; Image Entertainment's Blu-ray release of Los Angeles Lakers: 2010 NBA Finals Series features all seven games accompanied by a decent high definition presentation. The extras are sparse, but fans will want to grab this set, anyway. Recommended to Lakers and NBA fans.