The chants reached a deafening pitch. The atmosphere suddenly mirrored a setting reserved for a competitive NBA Finals matchup between the sport’s biggest rivals.
“Boston sucks!” the Lakers fans at Staples Center said endlessly. “Boston sucks!”
The play elicited gasps and cheers. Four days after needing heat packs on nearly every part of his body, Kobe Bryant threw down the heat with a thunderous two-handed dunk.
Once it all ended, the feeling surrounding the Lakers’ 107-100 loss to the Boston Celtics on Sunday at Staples Center seemed far more significant than the actual implications.
The Lakers (16-60) still lost another game to continue a depressing season destined to end with ping pong balls bouncing instead of champagne bottles popping.