It's the Lake Show and rest of league can only watch

LOS ANGELES -- It took more than a month, but the NBA playoffs finally have a team worthy of an NBA title.

The Los Angeles Lakers who walked onto the court Friday night at the Staples Center had been very good this postseason -- sweeping Denver in the first round, finishing off Utah in the second, then rallying from a 20-point deficit Wednesday against San Antonio.

But the Lakers who walked off the court Friday night were something else entirely.

If you were Kobe or Lamar, you'd be smiling, too. (Getty Images)

They were unbeatable.

And unless the Spurs are stupid, they know it. But this is bigger than the Spurs. This encompasses the Pistons and the Celtics, too, because the Lakers who demolished San Antonio 101-71 on Friday night are the best team in basketball.

There's no guarantee these same Lakers from Friday night will show up Sunday when the Western Conference finals shift to San Antonio. There's no guarantee that these same Lakers will show up even one more time this postseason.

But here's a guarantee: If they do, there's not a team in the NBA that can beat them.

This came out of nowhere, too.

The teams were tied at 37 with two minutes left in a mostly dismal first half that saw both coaches make changes, neither change working. The Spurs' Gregg Popovich returned Manu Ginobili, ineffective in Game 1, to his sixth-man role. The Lakers' Phil Jackson double-teamed Duncan after he'd torched single coverage for 30 points and 18 rebounds in Game 1. Ginobili stayed ineffective (no points, two turnovers in the first half) and Duncan stayed dominant (10 points, 13 rebounds in the half).

The sum total was a stalemate through 22 minutes. Tied at 37, this was anybody's game. This was anybody's series.

These were anybody's playoffs.

And then the Lakers staked their claim to all of it.

They broke open the game with an 8-0 run to finish the half. Then they kept rolling. After scoring 13 points in the first half, Kobe Bryant scored the Lakers' first seven of the third quarter. The Lakers led 53-41, but this wasn't a rehash of Game 1. This wasn't Kobe and his sorry little supporting cast.