From Mark Heisler in the L.A. Times:
They're back?
If last spring's renewal of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry seemed like a gift from the basketball gods -- at least until it started, if you're a Lakers fan -- it's six months later and they're still on.
With both teams atop their conferences, today's game is an actual event, as opposed to made-for-TV Christmas hypes like Shaquille O'Neal vs. Kobe Bryant I, II and III that paired the Lakers and Miami annually from 2004-2006.
Few rivalries in any sport can match the fervor and appeal of Lakers vs. Celtics. It's just as it was, with Celtics fans chanting "Beat L.A!" during Tuesday's win over Philadelphia.
Celtics fans hate the Lakers so much -- and Lakers fans so hate the Celtics -- that both live to see the other team lose, no matter who beats them.
Boston fans first chanted "Beat L.A!" in 1982, to the Philadelphia 76ers who were in the process of upsetting their team in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in Boston Garden.
"Classic Boston," Kevin Garnett said of the Tuesday chant. "That's what's up."
Garnett has been in Boston for one season plus 29 games. When you're a Celtic or Laker, you're a Celtic or Laker all the way.
Few rivalries in any sport can match the fervor and appeal of Lakers vs. Celtics. It's just as it was, with Celtics fans chanting "Beat L.A!" during Tuesday's win over Philadelphia.
Celtics fans hate the Lakers so much -- and Lakers fans so hate the Celtics -- that both live to see the other team lose, no matter who beats them.
Boston fans first chanted "Beat L.A!" in 1982, to the Philadelphia 76ers who were in the process of upsetting their team in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals in Boston Garden.
"Classic Boston," Kevin Garnett said of the Tuesday chant. "That's what's up."
Garnett has been in Boston for one season plus 29 games. When you're a Celtic or Laker, you're a Celtic or Laker all the way.
As always, both teams have learned to hate the other for causes too numerous to name, like Jackson's memory of Celtics fans rocking their bus after Game 6.
"Maybe it was kind of like being bused as a kid in the '70s in Boston, if you remember that," Jackson said.
If you don't, he's referring to the riots in South Boston over integrating the schools.
Rocking the Lakers bus is an old rite of Celtics fans, who did the same thing after the 1984 series. If the Lakers are back next spring, they may have to consider alternate transportation, like evacuating everyone by helicopter from the roof of the TD Banknorth Garden.
In the meantime, this game will do. This is what the basketball gods made Lakers and Celtics for, to test each other.
"Maybe it was kind of like being bused as a kid in the '70s in Boston, if you remember that," Jackson said.
If you don't, he's referring to the riots in South Boston over integrating the schools.
Rocking the Lakers bus is an old rite of Celtics fans, who did the same thing after the 1984 series. If the Lakers are back next spring, they may have to consider alternate transportation, like evacuating everyone by helicopter from the roof of the TD Banknorth Garden.
In the meantime, this game will do. This is what the basketball gods made Lakers and Celtics for, to test each other.
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