Shaquille O’Neal ridiculed Charles Barkley on live television recently after the Los Angeles Lakers tied their first-round playoff series with the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday.
After O’Neal broke a broom in front of his co-host on “Inside the NBA,” the Lakers legend showed his loyalty to his former team by telling the Lakers fan base that he was behind them.
“Don’t you ever disrespect Laker Nation. You understand me?” O’Neal told Barkley. “I got you Laker Nation. Always.”
Barkley had previously predicted that the Lakers would get swept by the Blazers, and he seemed to be on point after Portland took Game 1 with a 100-93 victory.
But Los Angeles regrouped in Game 2 with a 111-88 thrashing of Portland as Anthony Davis led the Purple and Gold to the win, knotting the series at one game apiece. The All-Star forward had 31 points and 11 rebounds to lead the attack.
Damian Lillard was held to only 18 points by the Lakers, whose tenacious defense kept the Blazers from reaching 100 points for the first time in games played inside the bubble.
The win kept the Lakers from going down 0-2 to the streaking Blazers, who had won seven of their previous nine games prior to Thursday’s match up.
Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday.
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