Game No. 82.
For the Lakers, it’s just another ordinary Wednesday night. It’s the last game of the season, that just-so-happens to end on the second night of a back-to-back against the Sacramento Kings. No thrills, no frills and no fuss.
The Lakers will more than likely cement their status as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference win or lose. While the Lakers await the results of an MRI scheduled for Andrew Bynum, the Kings await an entirely different fate. They’ll wait to see if they’ll be playing in a different arena, in front of a new audience and under a different moniker for the 2011-12’ season.
Hard to believe what a difference a span of a few years makes.
What were once two teams at the cusp of an intense rivalry are now only connected because they play in the same division. Every so often the Kings may catch the Lakers off guard and steal a few games, but overall the match-up between the two teams has lost its luster.
