The morning after

LOS ANGELES -- It's fairly quiet around the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles this morning.

As we walked to the arena, we spotted a few more Laker flags than usual hanging from the back windows of cars driving around downtown. With the Lakers emerging with an 87-81 triumph over the Celtics in Game 3 of the NBA Finals last night, we're assuming some fans are hopping back on the local bandwagon.

There's not a lot of activity outside the Team L.A. pro shop at the Staples Center. in fact, a couple of youngsters were tossing around a Laker Frisbee near the main entrance moments ago. No one tried to shoo them away, because there weren't a whole lot of customers for them to distract.

If the Lakers are going to release extra tickets for Thursday's Game 4, it won't happen until tomorrow, so there's no line forming quite yet outside the box office. Some die-hard fans (and opportunistic scalpers) will likely camp out starting later tonight for a chance to snare some extra tix.

Both the Celtics and Lakers have practice here this afternoon and we'll have updates after availability (3:30-4:30 EST).

The arena plays host to a WNBA showdown this evening as the Los Angeles Sparks (with Lisa Leslie and Candace Parker) host the Detroit Shock. A banner depicting the superstar duo, along with head coach Michael Cooper, hangs above the main entrance with the words, "It's Showtime" in the background.

Back with more this afternoon.