Lakers invoke 2004 Red Sox but end up getting swept
The Lakers played a clip of the legendary World Series-winning team in Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers were so desperate for a win in Game 4 of this year’s Western Conference Finals that they put aside their differences with Boston and called upon the spirit of the 2004 Red Sox.
Down 3-0, facing elimination at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, the purple and gold had no other choice but to play a clip of the historic Boston team.
The video was played on the jumbotron inside the Lakers’ Crypto.com Arena. The sequence featured Alex Rodriguez and Joe Torre staring out as the Red Sox celebrated their ALCS victory, the iconic clip of Jason Varitek jumping into Keith Foulke’s arms, and an image of the World Series trophy.
The Lakers didn’t just rely on some Boston magic, but looked within their own building’s history as well.
After the Red Sox portion, the Lakers played a video about the L.A. Kings, the most recent team to come back from down 3-0 in a series.
The hockey team who shares Crypto.com Arena with the Lakers and Clippers accomplished the feat in 2014 against the Sharks.
Despite their best attempts at drumming up some historic magic, these Lakers did not have the 3-0 comeback in them. Instead of charging back in Game 4 with a victory over Denver, L.A. lost 113-111 and were swept out of the Western Conference Finals.
To this point, there still have been no 3-0 series comebacks in NBA postseason history.
Tuesday night, the Celtics will be hoping that the Red Sox magic rubs off on them as they attempt a comeback from down 3-0 against the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
If Miami completes the sweep on Tuesday, it will mark the first time in NBA postseason history that both conference finals were sweeps.
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