Although the Lakers' Game 7 showdown with the Clippers was nominally a Lakers home game, all seven games had actually been played at Staples Center, so there was no real distinction between home and away.
Thus, there were not only Lakers fans in attendance today, but also plenty of Clippers fans.
For a long time, the Clippers had been mocked as "Los Angeles's second team."
In Los Angeles, under the Lakers' halo, the Clippers' fanbase had been very small.
But ever since Blake Griffin and Paul had joined forces, and the Lakers had fallen into decline, the Clippers had gained a place for themselves in Los Angeles as well.
So now, there were quite a few people in Los Angeles who liked the Clippers. As a result, the atmosphere inside Staples Center for today's do-or-die Game 7 was unlike anything seen before.
In past playoff games, it was basically impossible to see fans of both sides going head-to-head in the arena.
Because under normal circumstances, the home fans held an overwhelming numerical advantage.
But today was different. The numbers of Lakers fans and Clippers fans inside Staples Center were practically split evenly.
Before the players had even come out, cheers from the fans of both teams were already rising and falling in waves. Staples Center had deployed twice its usual number of security personnel today, afraid that the two sides' fans might start brawling in the stands.
"If tickets in the stands weren't so hard to get, I'd want to go down there and experience it too."
From the luxury suite, Link watched the surging sea of people below and found himself infected by the intense atmosphere.
Watching from down there was definitely more exhilarating.
Though the luxury suite had sofas, TVs, coffee tables, food, on-call service, and no risk