Los Angeles Lakers vs. Miami Heat

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Go home first and you are not coming back out. Everybody knows this about themselves and pretends otherwise, which is why a seven o'clock Monday downtown works best as a straight shot from the office - no detour, no sitting down, no changing out of what you already have on. Downtown absorbs the early arrivals well. The plaza starts filling about an hour ahead, the restaurants along Figueroa run a pre-tip rhythm they have had decades to perfect, and the building is close enough to full by the anthem that the first quarter actually sounds like something rather than like a warm-up. Miami is the opponent, and they bring a travelling support that is disproportionately loud for a team three time zones away, partly because so much of it already lives here and has been waiting since the schedule came out. Monday is the easiest night of the week to get a seat worth having. Go straight there from work and find out what a week feels like when it starts on your terms.