No team likes to get swept out of the playoffs. Just ask the top two seeds in the NHL playoffs, both of which were swept in the second round this week. Rarely, however, does a team respond as the Los Angeles Lakers have in the past few minutes. It was a pathetic display for a once proud franchise.
UPDATE: Here’s one report, and here’s an early account from the LA Times:
The game then started to turn chippy as [the Lakers’ Lamar] Odom shoved [Dallas Maverick] Nowitzki for a flagrant foul 2 and Odom was tossed from the game. Nowitzki made the technicals. The referees were concerned about losing control and called a quick foul on [Laker] Ron Artest to let the players know to dial things down.
But it didn’t work. [Dallas’] Jose Barea drove the lane and [Laker] Andrew Bynum elbowed him in the ribs while he was in the air. Barea landed hard on the court and Bynum was also thrown out of the game when a flagrant foul 2 was called with the Mavericks up by 32.
SECOND UPDATE: Here’s the video.