Los Angeles Lakers vs. Chicago Bulls

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The sweaters are everywhere in the concourse and almost nobody wearing one has ever been to Illinois. Chicago is the single visiting club that still travels on reputation alone - three decades after the era that built it, the away end here is louder than the current standings could possibly justify, filled largely by people with no connection to the city whatsoever. It is a faintly absurd thing to witness and it happens every single time they come. A Tuesday in the middle of February also lands in the stretch where everybody is counting down to the break, which loosens the whole evening: nobody is treating it as consequential and the basketball is better for it. Prices for a midweek February fixture are among the softest left on the calendar. If you have wanted to sit somewhere you could not previously justify, this is one of the two or three nights where the arithmetic finally works.