Scanning the blogs and beats following the Lakers' 100-92 series clinching win over the Spurs in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals...

Steve Dillbeck, LA Daily News: "That's not mission accomplished. It's giddy and dizzying and exciting, but it's not the goal. The Lakers left a message for the Boston Celtics on Thursday: We're waiting. Come and get us, if you can. The Detroit Pistons will do, too, because in the end it won't really matter. What ultimately is of consequence is the next result. The Los Angeles Lakers, a team no one with proper functioning brain waves thought would be here last summer, have advanced to the NBA Finals. Have L.A. all electrified, all struggling to catch its collective breath, all beside itself. Once more."

Pounding The Rock: "The Spurs were a figment of our collective imagination all year. The fans, the management and the players all fiercely held on to the same belief: no matter how good the opponent, no matter how dangerous the playoff path, no matter how pathetic the Spurs' supporting cast, the Big Three were good enough to pull us through. After all, they had done this before, right? Right. They had. But the Spurs are no longer "they." They are all too much in the present tense. The present Manu Ginobili, even with a healthy ankle, lacks the explosion and deadliness of the version in our heads. Today's Tim Duncan just put up the lowest playoff shooting percentage of his career (and his second worst effort in terms of blocked shot per game). This is not criticism. This is just reality."

Mike Finger, SA Express-News: "Once the Spurs had been left in his fumes, Bryant met with his most famous irritant, Spurs forward Bruce Bowen, after the game. Bowen's defensive tactics had drawn sarcastic comments from Lakers coach Phil Jackson throughout the series and had caused Bryant to throw up his hands at the officials more than once, but there appeared to be no hard feelings when the series was over. "There is a tremendous amount of respect for one another,” Bowen said. “I said he deserves all of the things he's received this year."

Bill Plaschke, LA Times: "From Finished to Finals. The most improbable Hollywood twist in a franchise built upon them took another spin Thursday, an entire city now whirling in its wake. From Loons to June. Months after they began a season with one whining diva and seven dwarfs, the Lakers are bringing a legitimate fable into the NBA Finals. From Shock to Awe."

Jeff McDonald, SA Express-News: "The Spurs were doomed in Game 5 by the same set of problems that had racked them throughout the series. Too many offensive lulls. Too much crunch-time Kobe. Not enough Manu Ginobili. Playing on a sore ankle that bothered him throughout the series, Ginobili struggled again, finishing with nine points and as many turnovers as field goals (three). He scored 10 points or less in all four of the Spurs’ losses."

Buck Harvey, SA Express-News: "How many titles would the Spurs have won the past five years with this Ginobili? [...] Some days he said he hurt, and some days he said it didn’t matter. Doctors shrugged, and coaches didn’t dwell on the chronic soreness in his left ankle. But after Thursday, one coach guessed Ginobili had been about half of what he has been in the past. Or, as Brent Barry said, “We had ‘Ma.’ We were missing ‘Nu.’"

Lakers Blog: "My favorite quote of night.  Vlad Rad was asked what it felt like when the clock finally counted down to zero. "Well, it felt like zero." Big laughs, but I knew right away what he meant. You're happy, but mostly just relieved the "W" was actually cemented before something bad happens. "You want that game to finish," admitted Radmanovic. "It was a really tough game. A lot of ups and down. Our team showed character again."

48 Minutes Of Hell: "I am less convinced that age was as much of a factor in this series as the world would like to claim it is. Aside from Kobe, the Lakers were not consistently taking their defenders off the dribble. They were not consistently overwhelming us on the fast-break. They consistently out hustled us on the boards but I think that was just as much a matter of positioning as anything else (is hustle genuinely an age related factor or merely a psychological one? This is a serious question, not a rhetorical one). This series wasn't won with youth. They just nailed their open looks and we didn't."

Mike Bresnahan, LA Times: "The odyssey began on the shores of Honolulu, the Lakers convening for training camp without knowing what awaited them, other than a slew of grim possibilities. Maybe Kobe Bryant would stay with the Lakers. Maybe he wouldn't. Maybe the Lakers would make the playoffs. Maybe they wouldn't. But the purple and gold confetti fell again Thursday, this time with particular meaning."

Jill Painter, LA Daily News: "The world is undoubtedly drooling at the prospect of the Lakers and Celtics playing in the NBA Finals. Lakers fans certainly are, judging by the "We want Boston!" chants Thursday. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol on the same court for the championship? Magic Johnson would be in his usual courtside seat and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would be in usual chair coaching behind the Lakers bench. Surely, Larry Bird and Kevin McHale would be in the crowd. ABC officials must be giddy just thinking about it."

Related: The Internets are alive, 2008 NBA Playoffs