By Brian A. Lester

For all practical purposes, this series is over. The New Jersey Nets threw their best punch at the Los Angeles Lakers Sunday night at Continental Airlines Arena in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, and yet, it wasn't enough to knock the two-time defending champions to the mat.

The Lakers won, 106-103, took a commanding 3-0 lead in the series and moved within one game of doing what not even the Showtime Lakers could do during their glory days -- win three consecutive NBA championships.

The official end could come as early as Wednesday night. At the latest, it will arrive Friday because it is clear the only thing the Lakers will be returning to California for is to hold a victory parade.

One can only begin to imagine how difficult it must be for the Nets right now. They get blown out in Game 2 and bounce right back with an energetic performance that put the Lakers in danger of losing for the first time in the series.

They did everything humanly possible to slow down L.A.'s express train, but it wasn't enough. Jason Kidd was brilliant, scoring 30 points and dishing out 10 assists. Kenyon Martin delivered as well, pumping in 26 points. New Jersey even employed an array of double-team defenses on Shaq, but the strategy wasn't as effective as the Nets could have hoped for considering Shaq still went off for 35 points.

The true difference-maker in Game 3, however, was not Shaq. O'Neal dominated, of course, but in this much-closer game, the Lakers needed someone to step up in the clutch. On Sunday, the man of the hour was Kobe Bryant.

Remember Bryant?

He has quietly averaged a cool 23 points through the first two games of the Finals, paving the way for Shaq to grab all of the headlines and command most of New Jersey's attention on the court.

But, on Sunday, Bryant reminded the world that he is still a pretty darn good player himself. Transforming into Michael Jordan, Bryant took advantage of the opportunities that resulted from the Nets being forced to swarm Shaq and blistered New Jersey for a game-high 36 points.

Bryant was particularly huge in the fourth period, further building on his reputation as a player who tends to come up big when his team needs him the most.

It all looked so good for the Nets this time. They had rallied to tie the game at 78 apiece at the end of three quarters and eventually built an 84-78 advantage in the fourth. By the time there was 6:44 left in the game, New Jersey was ahead 94-87.

But Bryant was there to take the lead away, snatching a seemingly certain victory out of the Nets' hands like the Grinch stealing Christmas. He scored 12 of his points in the final period, including two difficult jumpers over Kidd that kept the Lakers' lead at four points.

In a matter of minutes, hope had disappeared. Bryant had saved the day and the Nets walked off of the court with a feeling that nothing can save them now.

Maybe Bryant won't have another huge game like he did on Sunday during the remainder of the Finals, but his very presence on the floor serves as a reminder to the Nets that he is lurking in the shadows of Shaq with the ability to strike at anytime without warning.

Brian Lester is a sports writer in Ohio and can be reached at BAL4@hotmail.com.