BOSTON -- Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens was conducting his postgame press conference about 10 minutes after the final buzzer of his team's head-shaking 112-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night and the same chants of "Ko-be Br-yant" that often boomed through TD Garden could be heard again as joyous Lakers fans -- and maybe those simply swept up in the hype surrounding Bryant's final visit to Boston -- exited the arena.
For some Celtics fans, particularly those watching one of the team's rougher defensive efforts of the season, the idea that Kobe Bryant's name would be chanted in Boston seemed blasphemous.