BOSTON -- The first hearty "Beat LA!" chant from the Boston faithful began at the start of the fourth quarter of Saturday's Game 3. It popped back up a couple of more times in what served as a 12-minute celebration for Celtics fans who watched their team dismantle and dishearten the Orlando Magic 94-71 at TD Garden.
Celtics forward Glen Davis admitted to hearing the chant, but provided the company line after the game, stressing that there's work to be done before anyone inside the Boston locker room starts even entertaining the idea of a Celtics-Lakers clash in this year's NBA Finals.
"I understand the fans, how much [they want LA]," said Davis. "Beat LA ... We've got one more game to play and [Orlando] is highly capable of winning [four] in a row. We've been playing great, but at the same time, this is not finished until we win the next game."
Out west, the Lakers, up 2-0 in their conference final against the Phoenix Suns, had done a good job of avoiding similar chatter until Andrew Bynum got a little excited Saturday.
"Man, it's going to be amazing to play against those guys again, especially having lost [in 2008]," Bynum said when asked if he has thought about his size being a factor should the Lakers advance past Phoenix, with "those guys" being the Celtics, according to our friends at ESPNLosAngeles.com.
"We're going to have a lot of fuel, a lot of ammo to go at those guys," added Bynum. "They're definitely a great team, they've got great veterans on their squad and we know that. So we're already getting prepared. The first step is closing out Game 3 and after that, we'll be focusing on Boston, looking at them play, watching how they're playing Orlando and just trying to pick up as much as we can."
Davis wouldn't fall into that same trap. Not with work to be done.
"The fans are the fans," he said. "Fans sometimes don't realize, they're just excited about things like that. We love that intensity. But at the same time, we take it one game at a time. Game 4, we need it. We need to get this game in order to get where we want to go."
Speaking in more general terms, Celtics captain Paul Pierce likewise suggested all potential matchups will take care of themselves if Boston simply focuses on the task at hand.
"We're motivated by what's at stake, we see the big picture as a team," said Pierce. "We win [Game 4] and we look ahead, we're a step closer to our goal."
"Guys smell it. They know what it feels like to be in a championship. They know what it feels like to win a championship. You can see the urgency really starting to come out the closer we get."