BOSTON — The road trips have been long, the games have been stacked and, inside the Los Angeles Lakers’ locker room, the eyes have been droopier. The NBA schedule is long — the comparisons to a marathon too accurate for them to be fully dismissed as merely a cliche.
But the Lakers — they’re lucky, lucky to be in Boston on Saturday to fight the Boston Celtics, one of the NBA’s best rivalries pitting them against one of the NBA’s best teams in one of the NBA’s best environments.
They’re lucky, because even in a 125-121 overtime loss, their 50th game of the season, the Lakers’ decision makers can see what this team is. And, more importantly, what this team isn’t.
