For the Los Angeles Lakers, losing a game to the Boston Celtics is bad enough, but now rookie Jaylen Brown has added insult to injury. The Celtics blew out the Lakers 115-94 on Friday night to complete the season sweep of their historic arch-rival.
It was a tough game across the board for the Lakers, as they couldn’t match the Celtics’ execution on either end of the floor. Boston cruised to an easy victory and even threw in a little razzle dazzle when Isaiah Thomas threw a pass off the backboard for Brown to finish.
After the game, Brown used a term familiar to Lakers fans to describe the Celtics’ play, via Chris Forsberg of ESPN:
Asked about Boston’s dunkfest vs. Lakers, rookie Jaylen Brown notes, “We got some young guys on the team, it’s showtime."
— Chris Forsberg (@ESPNForsberg) March 4, 2017
It’s possible the Brown’s use of the term “Showtime” was accidental, as it is a term that is commonly used. However, given the context with Brown’s team just defeating Los Angeles, it seems likely that at least some venom was intended.
After all, the great Lakers teams of the 1980’s were popularly known as “Showtime” for their thrilling style of play. Now that the Lakers possess the second-worst record in the league and on their way to another season of missing the playoffs, Brown proclaiming that the hated Celtics have taken the “Showtime” mantle presumably produce some anger.
While this season has been difficult, there has been some optimism in Los Angeles with the arrival of former point guard Magic Johnson as the team’s new president of basketball operations.
As the face of the Showtime, Johnson may not be too thrilled with the comment, especially since losing to the Celtics is already frustrating in and of itself.